


Whole Pieces

by 1D_Amy, 1D_Leigh



Category: Ed Sheeran (Musician), One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 23:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6446140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1D_Amy/pseuds/1D_Amy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/1D_Leigh/pseuds/1D_Leigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Oops" he said shouted over the noise and turned around to stare into the mesmerising blue eyes of a man who Harry had never seen around Manchester before. "uhhhhh...." Harry stammered. "Hi" he responded with a cute smile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Whole Pieces

 

CHAPTER 1

"Come on Harry. It'll be fun. It's your graduation night for heavens sake."  
"No Gemma. I'm quite content just relaxing at home" whined Harry. She had been hassling him to come out with her all week, called it a celebration since he had just finished high school and was off to university next year. "You're coming whether you like it or not. Now go and put some clothes on little brother. Tonight is going to be legendary." she tossed one of the couch pillows at him. Harry had no idea how true that statement would turn out to be.

The bar Gemma had taken Harry to was expectedly busy, considering it was Friday night and Holmes Chapel 12th grade class had just graduated. Gemma had gone to the bar to get some drinks, promising her friends would be here shortly, and Harry was standing near a table shuffling his feet from side to side. This was so not his scene. He was dressed in a salmon pink silk shirt barely buttoned, black skin tight jeans that fitted him like second skin and suede boots, while most guys had the general skinny jeans and a white shirt. He was just about to pull his phone out when someone bumped him on the shoulder. "Fancy meeting you here Hazza.” said Ed "thought this wasn't your type of place."  
"Ed! So good to see you mate!" shouted Harry and pulled Ed into a hug. "You got that right. Gemma dragged me out here. Said she'd be paying for drinks. Here she comes now." Gemma was navigating her way through the crowd accompanied by her friends, juggling drinks when she spotted Harry and Ed. "Sorry lads. Took forever for the bartender to serve me and then these lovely ladies showed up. Oh and hi Ed. Been a while" she said and then continued on with the introductions, all of which Harry knew but not Ed.  
The night progressed and as the glasses piled up, everyone seeming to have forgotten social etiquette as the jokes got funnier and laughter grew louder especially when Harry did his impression of a mom from Long Island in the USA. As everyone cheered and awed over it Gemma suddenly screamed "Guys! We totally forgot to toast to Harry's graduation" she motioned to the bartender for a round of shots. When the bartender brought it over she moved next to Harry and slipped her hand around his shoulders, holding a glass in her hand, " Here's to you my not so little brother. Can't believe you'll be joining me at campus next year, feels like the other day when we were both singing into hairbrushes in front of mom. I'm so proud of you little one. Cheers" as they all raised their glass to Harry she pecked him on the cheek before downing her shot. "I've got an idea" she hollered. "Let's hit up Black Aces. I know clubs aren't your thing Harry but we won't be that long I promise." she pleaded. Harry sighed. "Alright Gems. But I would prefer to be home before 3am alright." and off they went.

 

The club was dark, stuffy and overcrowded. The music was good and Harry had to admit there were a lot of pretty girls. Most were too tipsy but so was he. He smiled to himself. He was kind of glad Gemma had dragged him out tonight. He was actually having a good time. Ed was somewhere on the dance floor with some girl he had met 10min ago and Stacey, the girl Harry had been dancing was in the restroom. Harry was leaning against the wall near the bathroom waiting when the girl poked her head outside and waved him over. Afraid that something might be wrong, Harry approached cautiously when she yanked his hand and pulled him inside. "what's wrong?" he asked. "nothing. It's just really stuffy out there and I thought we could hang in here for a bit" she said as she sat up on the bathroom counter, pulling down her shorts a bit. Harry smiled and and moved closer, leaning his hand on the counter so that she was between the mirror and him. Moving his face just inches from hers and giving her that charming smile with the dimples so deep you could live in it, "what would you like to talk about?" Stacey blushed and looked down at her lap. But only for a second. She looked up and grabbed his face in her hands and was about to kiss him when she suddenly jerked, pushed her herself off the counter, raced to one of the cubicles, and slammed the door. The sound of heaving coming through. "you alright love?" questioned Harry. More heaving. "yeah just give me a minute." she said. The sound of someone vomiting made Harry want to vomit as well so he muttered a quick "alright. I'll just be waiting outside for you then." and practically ran out the door. He needed fresh air. He was on his way to one of the balconies when Gemma spotted him and motioned to him to come over. "Little brother. It's getting pretty late. Or early. Depending on how you look at it. Want to have one more drink before we head home?" Harry thought about Stacey in the restroom. He was sure she would be ok. Just had had a little too much to drink. And he had just passed her friends on their way to the restroom anyway. He looked at Gemma, "Sure Gems. But I'll get this round." He wormed his way across the dance floor, passing Ed and telling him they were on their way out soon. Walking backwards to catch Ed's reply he bumped into someone. "Oops" he said shouted over the noise and turned around to stare into the mesmerising blue eyes of a man who Harry had never seen around Manchester before. "uhhhhh...." Harry stammered. "Hi" he responded with a cute smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

Harry was in a trance. He had never seen such beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that could stare right into your soul. He realised he was probably staring a little too long and shrugged his shoulders trying to regain his composure. A feeble “uh... Hi. Sorry about that.” was all he could mutter.

The minute that tall man turned around Louis knew that he was gone. Those long, flowing brown curls, those amazing green eyes, that deep voice that you could literally listen to for hours. What were these feelings? Louis wasn't gay. These feelings were unnatural. Too many drinks, he blamed it on. Wait... Had the man said something? “Don't worry about it lad. Club's already so crowded as it is. Name's-” Louis had started when Stan hollered. “Tommo, where are the drinks? Been waiting for ages mate” sliding his arm across Louis shoulders, and giving him a playful push. Harry took in the sight of the two of then, gave Louis an apologetic wave, and then slowly started retreating back to the dance floor where Gamma and her friends were.

“Harry you weirdo, where have you been? And where are our drinks?” Gemma asked as she hobbled over. Clearly intoxicated. Harry reached out and steadied her, sliding his arm around her waist. “Think we've had enough drinks now yeah? Let's get us home.” he pinched her nose, motioned for the other girls and headed for the exit to a waiting taxi. Having the driver drop off all the other girls first, Harry and Gemma only got home around half past three. Gemma was practically asleep as Harry slowly sneaked into the house, trying not to make a sound as he carried Gemma to her room and laid her on the bed before heading to his own. He didn't even bother undressing, flopped down on the bed, the boy with the blue eyes completely forgotten as he instantly fell asleep.

Louis awoke to a heavy weight on his back, almost crushing him. “Get off me you twat!” he fussed, trying to push Stan off. “Not unless you promise to wake up Tommo! It's game day mate! Thought we could play some football in the park before the match.”replied Stan, applying more pressure on Louis. “Alright fine. Just get off me!” Louis declared, giving Stan a big shove. It was almost 11am and the boys had only gotten back to their room around 5 that morning. It had been a great day. And night. Driving down from Doncaster for the weekend to watch the Rovers play Bury. They had arrived around 6pm, parked the car at the lodge they were staying at and headed over to Black Aces. Louis could barely remember what had happened last night. All he could recall was Stan handing him shot after shot, and wasn't he making out with some blond chick too? He couldn't remember. All the night had given him was sore legs, a pounding headache and no doubt some questionable pictures on his phone.

He got off the bed, dragged the duvet covers off Josh who was still sleeping soundly and headed for the shower. The warm water cascading over him was so welcoming he wanted to stay there forever. He quickly washed off last night's dirt and who knows what else, and leaned against the shower wall closing his eyes. “I need a wee Louis! Get out of there” yelled Josh, pounding on the door. He reluctantly turned off the tap, and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, not even bothering to dry himself off. “Bathrooms all yours lad” he offered and headed for the bedroom. Once dressed in his rolled up black skinnies, Doncaster jersey and signature black Vans he headed to the kitchen and proceded to make a cup of tea while searching for those painkillers he knew he had brought. He had been eating some eggs Stan had been gracious enough to make when his phone beeped. It was Niall. “Mate! We still meeting up at the game later today?” “Oi oi! Of course we are lad! Stan and Josh wanted to play some footy at Clairewood park in a bit. Bring Payno along yeah” he quickly replied. As he set his phone down, Stan and Josh came barreling through from the bedroom arguing about who actually got a girls number from last night, when Louis quieted them down. “Come on lads” he said as he placed his plate in the sink and grabbed the football. “Niall just texted. Him and Payno are meeting us at the park.”  
~~~~~~~

Harry awoke in a daze... He leaned up on his arms and glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 9:30am. He groaned. It was way too late to go for his usual morning run, and he felt sticky for some reason. He glanced down, he was still wearing last night's clothes. “Shower first. That's what I need.” he thought as strolled to the bathroom. He stripped down as he brushed his teeth, tossing his clothes in the basket and hopped in the shower. What seemed to be almost half an hour later, he exited and headed to the kitchen in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his long hair dripping. “Harry Edward Styles, do not come into this kitchen half-naked with that wet hair of yours!” yelled Anne. She was busy making blueberry pancakes and talking to Gemma, who looked none the worse for wear as if she hadn't even been out since 3 this morning. “Morning mom, Gems. Just came to see what that heavenly small was.” he replied, stealing a pancake of the plate and headed for his bedroom munching away happily. As he slipped on a pair of yet another black skin right jeans, he peered out the window. Was an unusally sunny day in Manchester. “Perfect” he thought. “Can head over to the park and take some lovely pictures. Even grab a blanket and read some Walt Whitman.” he hurriedly out on a plain white shirt, and threw over a red plaid long sleeve just in case it got a little chilly. He grabbed his camera bag of the desk and as he walked to the kitchen he texted Ed “Morning sunshine. I'm headed to the Clairewood park in a bit. Take some photos. Come along if you want. Maybe we can catch a movie after.” he slipped his phone back in his pocket, set his bag down, and took a seat next to Gemma at the counter.  
“These pancakes are amazing mom. I can't get enough!” said Harry who was already on his 4th one. “Apparently so. Just try leave some for Robin ok” she laughed as she handed him a cup of tea. “So what are your plans today little sweetheart?” inquired Anne. She always thought Harry never went out often enough for a boy his age. Although she often joked that Gemma went out enough for the both of them. “Headed to the park mom. Hoping to take some amazing shots while we've got some sunlight. Ed and I might go to a movie later.” To which Anne replied, “Sounds good love. Gems and I are off to do a bit of shopping. Text me if you're going to be late for supper.” and with that her and Gemma headed out through the kitchen door. “Well I better be off too.” he thought as he downed his cup of tea. “Dad I'm heading out, see you later!” He shouted to Robin who mumbled a barely audible “yeah” from his study.

As Harry strolled down the street camera in his hands ready to snap anything that caught his eye he looked around. He was sure going to miss this place next year. The warm air, the quiet streets. He passed the bakery and gave an enthuisatic wave to the ladies inside. He was going to miss them as much as he was going to miss his mom. He had worked with those four lovely ladies since he was 13. To him, they were like his grandmothers. Eager to listen to any story and always ready with amazing advice. He had to spend more time with them before he left.

As he rounded the corner and entered the park he was so excited. The park was even more beautiful today thanks to the sunlight. Of course it wasn't as empty as he would have hoped, what with everyone taking advantage of the unusually sunny day. There were moms with toddlers, some teen girls who had stopped chatting when he walked past and were now all staring at him and some guys a little ways off playing some football.

He started with a few lanscape shots, pictures of flowers and captured how the sunlight came through the tree branches. And when he was satisfied with those, he laid out his blanket and started to take some candid photos of the people around him. The children playing on the swings, the 2 elderly men playing chess and the boys nearby playing soccer. As he set his camera down be heard the boys yelling and looked up. Their ball had landed about a metre away from where he was and he could see someone running in his direction to get it. Being the helpful Harry that he was, he got up to get it, waiting to hand it to whoever was coming. When he got close enough, as Harry stretched out his hand with the ball, the man froze. So did Harry. “.... We've got to stop meeting by accident curly.” said Louis smiling despite being so nervous. Nervous? What was wrong with him?

Hope you guys liked it. I was so snervous about posting it! Let me know what you think.  
New chapter will be up soon. All the love x


	2. Soccer and beer

Chapter 3

Harry blushed and handed over the ball. “Yeah... Again sorry about last night. Didn't see you there.” he said as he rubbed the back of neck and looked at the ground. Why did those piercing blue eyes have such an effect on him? “Enough with the apologies lad. Name's Louis. What have you got there?” he stuck his hand out and motioned to the Walt Whitman book in Harry's hand. Flustered, he held it up. “I'm Harry... It's Walt Whitman. I'm quite fond of poetry.” replied Harry, slightly embarrassed. “Interesting,” said Louis “want to take a break and come have a kick around with me and me mates? We could always use another player.” Before Harry had the chance to refuse, they both turned to the boys a little ways off shouting at Louis to get his attention and telling him to get his ass back with the ball. Louis, not even thinking that Harry would say no turned and gave him a wicked grin, “Come on Harold! We've got a game to win” and started jogging back. Harry hesistated. First, his name wasn't Harold. And second, who was this boy and why did he give Harry goosebumps every time he looked at him? He shook his head, of course he'll play. For some reason, he felt like he could not say no to that winning smile. He grabbed his backpack, shoved his blanket and book in it and started after Louis. They quickly scanned through the introductions and continued on with the game, Louis, Harry and Stan obviously winning. Before they knew it it was time to head off for the game. Harry was saying his goodbyes and thanking the boys for the game when Niall yelled at Louis “Oi Tommo! Why not invite him to the game? It's not like it's sold out.” he laughed and started to head out the park, chatting with the rest of the boys.

Why was Louis so nervous? Harry was standing in front of him awkwardly, not sure of what to say or do next. Louis dismissed his nervousness and proceded to ask Harry. “We're off to watch Doncaster play. You're welcome to come along. It's always great fun.” Goodness. Why did he feel like he was 13 and asking a girl out for the first time? He was absolutely certain Harry could hear his heart beating through his chest. He was also desperately hoping Harry would say yes. A few beats passed before, “Sure.” smiled Harry “Sounds like fun.” and off they went. Walking shoulder-to-not-quite-shoulder considering Harry was much taller.

The tube ride to the stadium was fun. They met up with a whole lot of Doncaster fans, a lot of whom Louis, Stan and Josh knew. “So you're all from Doncaster?” asked Harry trying to be heard above the noise, most of which was coming from Niall. “No. Just me Stan and Josh” replied Louis “Liam and Niall over there are from Manchester. We met them at a game a few months ago.” They arrived at the stadium and it took a while to find their seats. The stadium was full, the vibe energetic. It promised to be a good match.

“YES!!! Oi oi oi!!!” Louis hollered jumping up out his seat, turning to hug Harry. The minute he wrapped his arms around him, Louis felt a jolt of electiricty run through him. He shivered. What is happening? He quickly pulled back, smiling awkwardly. He wondered if Harry felt it too. “Want to go get a drink to celebrate lads? Nialler and Payno, first round is on you since Bury lost you losers!” he laughed, coming up behind Stan. “Yeah yeah. Whatever Louis. Hey Harry, you coming along mate?” asked Niall. Harry pulled his phone out To check the time when he saw a message from Ed. Shit. He had completely forgotten he was supposed to meet him! “Hazza! Sorry mate. Won't be able to make today. Got a gig at a pub I've got to prepare for. Another time.” Harry sighed in relief, checking the time. 6:30pm. It was pretty late and he should be heading home. He looked up to kindly refuse when he locked eyes with Louis. He paused. “Sure.” He said, never taking his eyes off Louis “just need to text my mom.” he quickly typed out a message informing Anne he was going to be late and off they went to the pub. Harry still couldn't say no to Louis.

Louis couldn't remember how many drinks he had, judging by the number of empty glasses at their table, he was guessing a lot. Stan and Josh had gone home around 8pm, claiming they were tired but Louis knew they were actually going out to meet the girls from last night. Niall and Liam were busy playing pool and Harry was sitting across from him, nervously tapping his glass. Louis felt quite brave after all that alcohol and nudged Harry's foot to get his attention “So curly, tell me about yourself.” Harry looked up and smiled. “Well, I just graduated from high school over at Holmes Chapel. Looking to study law next year. What about yourself? I haven't seen you around here before.” To which Louis replied, “Yeah I'm from Doncaster. Stan, Josh and I just came for the weekend. I graduated from Hayfield a couple years ago. I work at the toy store near the mall. Haven't really decided what I want to do with meself yet. Thinking about music maybe. But I've got to say, law sounds pretty interesting. And you look mysterious enough to be a good lawyer.” Harry laughed. “Mysterious? No one's ever called me mysterious before.” he blushed. “Or had my heart racing this much” he thought.

Louis and Harry were deep in conversation when Harry glanced behind Louis at the wall clock, 9pm! Where did the time go? He had to get home, his mom must be worried. But he didn't want to leave Louis. He felt himself being drawn to him for some reason. Reluctantly he got up to stretch.  
When Harry stood up to stretch, his shirt riding up a little Louis breath caught in his throat. Where those fern leaf tattoos? And why was he so attracted to his waist? He knew he was staring but he honestly didn't care. Harry cleared his throat, which seemed to break Louis trance and he looked up slightly embarrassed. “I best be off,” said Harry. “Mom is probably wondering what happened to me.” Was it Louis’ imagination or did Harry look almost as sad as he felt?  
“Uh... Yeah. Sure of course. I should be heading out too. We're driving back home tomorrow.” Louis replied, looking down at his empty glass. He didn't want Harry to leave. “Pull yourself together louis” he thought to himself. Wait... He had an idea. He grabbed a serviette, haphazardly scribbled his number on it and handed it to Harry, satisfied with himself. “If you ever decide to come to Doncaster. We've got some great scenery and beautiful buildings if you take pictures of those too.” he said, nodding at Harry's camera bag. Harry blushed, and reached out to grab the serviette, their fingers grazing, and he felt his heart rate quicken. He pulled his hand back, shoved it in his pocket and gathered is belongings. “Well, it was nice meeting you Louis. I had fun today. Tell the other boys I said goodbye yeah.” said Harry, gave Louis a wave and headed out the door.  
Louis was dejected. Harry hadnt even glanced at the number, let alone mentioned it. Why did he care though? Harry was a guy. He was a guy. Who cares? He wasn't gay. These feelings were just the result of too much alcohol. And a new environment. He brushed it off and got up to join Niall and Liam playing pool.  
Harry could barely breathe. What was going on with him? He felt like a teenage boy with a crush. And on Louis no less. Don't get him wrong, he was gorgeous, but Harry wasn't gay. Was he? No. No no no. He was just out of practice in the dating scene. Plus spending all that time home alone on tumblr sure didn't help. Then why had he practically run out the door at the bar? He knew. If he had stayed, he was afraid he would've gotten drunk enough to justify flirting with Louis. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the serviette. He smiled at Louis’ barely legible handwriting. “If you ever want to come to Doncaster curly x” With his number below. An x? Why had Louis wrote an x? Was probably just a mistake. He got his headphones out his bag, and turned on the radio as he walked. The Vamps song coming through;  
I met you yesterday  
You took my breath away  
And I kind of like the way  
That you're so damn, unpredictable  
As he listened to those words Louis face popped into his mind. He smiled, quickening his steps as a drizzle began to fall. He knew what he would do. And he couldn't wait. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you like it. New chapter will be up soon hopefully x


	3. First kiss?

Almost a whole week had passed since that Saturday night at the bar. Harry was currently perched on the edge of his bed with his phone at the ready, and Louis’ number staring at him from his lap. He had been sitting motionless for ten minutes already, talking himself in and out of it. This should be easy. His resolve had been with him this entire time, looking forward to this moment. But now that it was upon him, that courage was suddenly depleting. “Come on, Harry. Just do it. You could use those pictures anyway,” he reasoned with himself out loud. 

He was hiding behind the excuse that his tumblr blog, which had quite a large following, needed more pictures and that was why he wanted to go Doncaster. In his defense, he really was interested in the place. He had googled it as soon as he’d gotten home that night, and he instantly fell in love with it. But he’d be lying to himself if he said there wasn’t a much bigger and more important reason he wanted to go. However, the pictures being the perfect scapegoat he sat up a little straighter, took a deep breath, and dialled the little number for the very first time.

~~~~

Louis had been taking a lunch break, munching on a boring sandwich, when he got Harry's text. He didn’t recognize the number, but his gut feeling was verified when he opened it. 

Hi Louis. Its Harry. Hope you remember me, lol. I was thinking about coming to Doncaster on Saturday, weather is supposed to be great. 

Up for being my tour guide?

Louis could hardly contain his smile and he felt his heart lurch. Harry. Of course he remembered Harry, the silly tosser. The image of the gorgeous boy laughing at his stupid jokes, dressed in those black jeans and red flannel had been sprinting through Louis’ mind since he watched him walk out of that pub door nearly a week ago. And now he was coming to Doncaster!? Louis was bubbly and giddy from the prospect of seeing Harry again, and he quickly typed a response.

Curly! Of course I'm up for it! You can come by my place first if you want. Or I'll just meet you at the station, whatever works. Look forward to seeing you, mate x.

He finished the text adding his address at the bottom, and headed back to work with a ridiculously goofy expression stuck on his face. He couldn't help it. He was seeing Harry in just two days and despite his slight confusion at his uncontrollable excitement, he was happy to be happy.

~~~

Saturday morning came around and Harry had probably changed his outfit five times. Eventually, he had settled on a safe plain white t-shirt and black jeans, but with rips in the knees for a change, and white Converse. He had texted Louis about an hour ago and told him he would be at the station around 11 a.m., and he was so excited to see the boy. 

Harry’s been a nervous wreck ever since he got Louis’ first message, because once again, he’d left behind an ‘x’. That’s the second x now. He had better keep his cool today, or he wouldn’t ever forgive himself. But really, now. One x, fine whatever, but two? He shook the worries out of his head and grabbed his backpack, walking out of his house and towards his future.

~~~

Louis wondered if he looked as anxious as he felt. Because if he did, that was a problem. He was standing posed at the station, leaning against a wall as coolly as he could, hands in the pockets of his jeans. He was wearing a white Snoopy dog tank top under a blue denim jacket, his favourite maroon coloured beanie and white Vans. Hardly an innovative outfit for such a monumental occasion, but he figured the less the better. He didn’t want to come off as a soppy date. Harry may be hopefully coming to his flat, but it was not a date. Harry’s a boy. Photography. Not a date. 

He had been waiting for about thirty minutes, having come embarrassingly early, but at long last, the tube containing Curly came shooting in and halting before him. It wasn’t difficult to spot the tall boy step off the tube and onto the platform, and when he did Louis’ heart leapt. There was Harry, looking like a piano key in black and white, a little backpack slung over his shoulder. Harry scratched his head while searching the crowd for a sign of Louis who was just about to wave his arms or something to make his location known, when Harry’s gaze fell on him and their eyes locked. 

As with every other instance, it was as if time around them stopped and stood impossibly still. Harry broke out in a charmingly lopsided, very dimpled smile, and wait... how on Earth could Louis have missed the importance of those dimples? Was this really the first time he was noticing them? Long story short, because he could write a novel on them, they were the single most endearing and adorable thing Louis has ever seen. Before he had the chance to ponder anything else, like what else about this boy he may have overlooked, Harry was standing directly in front of him. 

“Hey Louis.” 

“Heya back, Curly,” Louis replied, pulling Harry into one of those awkward one armed hugs males are so notorious for. “Ready for your proper and official tour of Donny, are you?”

Hours of time, and a very many extensive explorations later, Louis concluded to Harry that there was not much else to see now. So from the park they’d been walking through, they began to retreat back to Louis’ car. Just then, the slight drizzle of rain that had been slowly and steadily falling abruptly changed its mind, turning into a brutally heavy downpour. Laughter breaking out between them, Louis and Harry raced each other back to the shelter of Louis' little black Ford Focus, and flew into it. 

“Holy crap, that rain was ridiculous,” Louis laughed, shaking his hair in an adorable dog-like manner. Harry’s answering laughter was like music to Louis’ ears.

“Yeah it was. But Brodsworth Hall was amazing, Louis. Like, better than I ever expected. That garden was so beautiful. I got so many fantastic shots thank you so much for bringing me here, this was so amazing, just magnificent-” 

Harry went on ranting and raving about how great his pictures were, and how his tumblr followers were going to absolutely love them, as Louis smiled and started the car. Funnily enough, as quickly as it had started pouring, it had now sort of up and ceased just as suddenly, the clouds opening for sunlight to break through and warm the chilly park they had just left. Bloody England. 

Louis backed out of the parking lot, and was just about to get back on the road when Harry unexpectedly yelled at him to stop. Louis hit the brakes so hard that he inwardly thanked the universe for the invention of seatbelts. 

“Bollocks, Harold! What is it?” 

“Look, Louis!” Harry shouted, finger frantically pointing at the windshield to something in the sky. “A rainbow! Ohhhhh Louis I've just gotta get a picture of it. Look at it, it’s so beautiful, oh Louis please pull over?”

“Alright, alright Curly, keep your trousers on,” Louis joked as he pulled over in fond bemusement at Harry’s child-like antics. He climbed out of the car, and went to stand beside Harry, who had already jumped out and ran to a vantage point before Louis had even turned the car off. He is so ridiculous. At least the rain stopped, he thought, content in admiring the intensity of Harry as he snapped photograph after photograph of the rainbow. 

After looking to the rainbow as well, Louis had to admit it was rather breathtaking, and he couldn’t help but smile at it. Each colour was bright and bold, and you could see nearly all of it stretching across the sky and touching down on both ends. It just sort of made you happy, really. 

In his distracted rainbow musings, Louis almost missed Harry’s actions to his right, but his peripherals caught it just in time. He whipped his head to Harry, who simultaneously turned his camera back at the rainbow. Louis narrowed his eyes in suspicion and mockingly scolded, “Did you just take a picture of me, Harold?”

“Possibly...”, Harry admitted, visibly mortified. Damn. He thought he might just get away with it. How do I get out of this? What can I even say?, he thought, blood pressure rising.

“Well, let's have a look, then,” Louis said, leaning over Harry’s elbow, and putting his face near the camera. Louis’ slightly stubbly, but quite soft cheek grazed Harry’s arm, and his grip on the poor camera threatened to break it if he wasn’t careful. 

When Harry made no move to show him the picture, Louis pressed further.   
“Harry, come on now, lemme see. Can’t have any distasteful pictures on there. What if it’s a bad one? I have to know, and Harry I can and will get that camera from you, don't think I won't. Your choice,” he said challengingly. 

Never able to resist a challenge, Harry, deviously smirking, stretched his arm above his head, holding the camera as high as he could where Louis didn’t have a chance at reaching it. 

“Oh alright lad, you asked for it!” Louis shouted, attacking Harry in a bombardment of tickles in an attempt to get the Giraffe to lower his unfairly long arms. Harry was gasping and giggling madly, begging for mercy as Louis showed none. 

Somewhere in the desperate wriggling around, Harry’s foot made contact and slipped on an unseen stone protruding from the soil, and he lost his footing completely. Panicking, he pulled at Louis’ shirt to keep himself upright and secure his balance, but his already precarious angle mixed with the yanking only made both of them tumble down to the soft ground in a heap of limbs. 

Harry’s first thought was at least he had raised his camera arm behind Louis’ back so the bloody thing didn’t break. That would have broken his soul.

But his second thought was that now Louis was laying completely on top of him. Lips so close to his neck, that every one of Louis’ breaths sent shivers down the length of his spine. He could feel every curvature of Louis’ body pressed up against his, and the expanding of his chest that housed a proudly beating heart right over his very own. This was either really good or really bad, and he couldn’t decide which just yet.

The loudest silence ever documented happened at this very moment. Harry stopped breathing in fear of shattering the deafening calm. 

While Harry was internally screaming, Louis squirmed a bit against his chest, but only to find purchase on the grass and push himself up to stop crushing Harry. But to Harry’s astonishment, Louis didn’t actually move away. Instead, he leaned himself down and even closer to Harry’s face. 

If Harry thought time stopped before, he didn’t even know how to start to explain this. The unwavering eye contact was slowly draining every one of Harry’s problems out of his life. And when Louis’ gaze swept from Harry’s eyes to his lips, he thought he might die. 

Louis leaned impossibly closer, lips almost touching Harry’s, but not quite, and it was torture for the poor boy. One more intense look from Louis into his eyes, and Harry knew it was really happening. He’s gonna do it. Oh my goodness, he’s gonna do it, he thought, closing his eyes just in time to feel the softest and sweetest lips press down against his. 

Stars exploded behind Harry’s eyes, and Louis lifted his right hand from the grass to the side of Harry’s neck, sliding it forward to cradle the back of his head, leaving goosebumps wherever the fingertips brushed.

He never wanted this to end, but he knew it would have to eventually. He was desperately savouring this moment, locking every single second away so as to remember it forever. He didn’t want to miss a thing. As far as kisses go, regardless of not having done it a massive amount, Harry knew it was the best one in the world. No kiss shared between two people could possibly be this magical. This was as good as it gets.

It was as Harry gently placed his hand on Louis’ face that both pairs of vividly coloured eyes found each other’s, the spell was broken. 

Their passionate and wonderful world of pure emotion, with their shared moment of ‘shoot now, ask questions later’ came crashing down around them, and Harry couldn’t be more disappointed. It was time for the questions. 

Louis’ eyes widened like saucers, and he flew off and away from Harry so fast, that Harry almost looked for a huge pair of wings he may have missed on the Yorkshire boy’s back. Still feeling Louis’ face on his palms, he clenched them into fists, and shakily stood, awaiting the hurricane that was about to occur.

“Sorry. Shit. I’m so sorry I... um... That was…”, Louis was pacing back and forth, both hands balled up in his hair, looking about one second from exploding, or worse. 

Harry cautiously approached him; it being akin to appeasing a feral animal. “Hey... it's ok Lou... That...yeah...it was nice. I mean, it was alright I guess...it...”, he forced out, very unsure of whether to touch Louis or not, so his hand simply hovered, suspended above the boy’s shoulder.

“No, Harry. No it wasn’t. I mean it was but...Harry, I’m sorry. But I’m not gay,” Louis said, backing away from Harry, looking as though he might bolt at a moment’s notice.

“You…,” Harry started, “Louis, you think I’m gay?” he asked incredulously.

Louis raised his head to meet Harry’s eyes. “You’re not?” he asked dumbly, straightening up a bit.

“No, you git. Honestly, right now I’m just as confused as you are.”

“Oh...okay. I don’t know you dress so nice all the time, and I just thought maybe you were. You were pretty into it.”

Harry couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. “I was into it? Louis, you were the one to kiss me, you fool,” he reasoned between giggles.

“Oh yeah,” Louis replied, a slight flush reddening his cheeks. “I guess so. So neither of us know what the hell is going on here?”

“No, not a clue.”

“Well, shit. Alright then.” 

Silence fell again, because aside from all the important things they should probably say, there was truly nothing to say. Harry was so bloody confused, and by the looks of it, Louis was worse. But that could be okay, as long as they were confused together. But Harry just couldn’t take Louis squirming in his shoes one second longer. 

“Listen... Louis, tell you what. Let’s just forget it ever happened, okay? If that will make you feel better. I’ll never speak of it again, really, I can’t even remember what we’re talking about, I swear.”

He walked forward to directly face Louis with courage of steel, but careful to keep some distance between them. Louis couldn’t meet his eyes and was back to staring at the ground. It pained Harry a smidge to take the ‘forget about it’ route. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but subsequently, he didn’t really know what that was either. But if Louis’ hint of a smile at his words was anything to go by, he knew he was doing the right thing in this moment. 

“What do you say we go to a pub? And get right pissed? As smashed as we can possibly get? It is a Saturday after all. We can just get stupid, and have a good time, because regardless of what just happened, whatever it was I mean...I still really want to be your friend, Louis. I don’t want this to ruin whatever our... mateship is,” Harry declared, begging the universe for Louis to accept the offer.

Louis only took a moment of consideration before he looked up at Harry once again, a wide toothy grin spreading across his quickly relaxing features.

“Yes. To all the above.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like the new chapter. Let me know what you think xx


	4. Are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in 1 week, guess I was feeling a little inspired

The morning after said night of unspeakable amounts of alcohol, Louis woke up feeling like he just got hit by a double decker bus. Pulling his duvet up closer to nuzzle his face in it. He couldn’t remember how he had gotten home at all, but he clearly made it, and he guessed that’s all that matters. He made a quick physical check of himself and found he was in his boxers from last night, and an oversized grey jumper. 

Alright, well he wasn’t naked, so the night couldn’t have been that wild. He stretched his memories as far as they would go, and the first one he found was practically snogging Harry at the park yesterday. Ugh. He had kissed Harry. And yes, he had liked it. Groaning, he pulled the duvet all the way over his head in frustration. God Louis. So you’re gay now, is that it?, he inwardly accused himself. 

He searched his mind for more recollection of how the night had turned out. After the park incident, he remembered they had gone to the Wellington’s pub at Harry’s suggestion, just a few blocks away from his home, and they had knocked back a record amount of shots, but that was it. All his mind was allowing him to recover. Hopefully they hadn’t done any more snogging in the dingy pub. What if they had? Did anyone see it if they did? He hoped Harry had gotten home alright, he couldn’t figure out how he would have been able to. However, there was a large possibility Harry was sleeping on his sofa in the living room, so he would get up and check in a little while. He heard the soft sound of whistling in the kitchen and he filled with dread and excitement.

. 

Harry. HARRY. Louis, Harry is in your kitchen, he mentally announced to himself, fighting the urge to scream like a lass in a horror film.

The next thing Louis contemplated was whether he and Harry had shared the bed. That would not be good. I mean Louis had his clothes on, so that was telling. Blacked-out-Louis would never have successfully gotten clothes back on, had he in fact taken them off. 

Taking the essential deep breath needed to prevent him from screaming, he calmed down enough to hope against all hope that drunk-Louis had done nothing stupid.

Louis practically shot out of the bed like a cannon. He desperately needed a solitary shower to come up with his next move.

~~~~

 

First and foremost, Harry just hoped Louis wouldn’t react too badly to the fact he had stayed over. He’d only done it because Louis was so sloshed last night that he could barely walk straight, or stand for that matter, and Harry had almost had to carry him into his flat. He couldn’t just leave Louis in a condition like that, he had to be there to look after him. 

It completely escaped his mind that he had not too long ago left Stacey in that exact same situation. 

Louis’ had been a handful last night, there’s no doubt about that. After attempting to kiss Harry repeatedly and getting shot down every time because Harry simply wouldn’t do it, the smaller boy had proceeded to keep apologizing over and over again for the remainder of the night. In his drunken stupor, Harry had actually thought it was... almost cute. 

His memories of the night, however, ended there, and it didn’t explain anything after that. 

 

The attempted kisses last night re-emerged back into his head as a possible explanation. Maybe he blacked out as well, and quit halting Louis’ advancements, but he quickly dismissed it. They couldn’t have gone that far. They just couldn’t have. 

In the hopes of cheering Louis up, because Harry was paranoid he might be angry, he began to cook an early breakfast for the Yorkshire boy to eat when he got out of the shower. Well if you consider eight o’clock on a Sunday morning early. It was pretty basic for the average folk, but not for him. 

He made a fry up of everything breakfast themed Louis had in his kitchen. Which wasn’t much but he was relatively pleased at what he managed. He had just begun frying the last ‘low-quality-but-the-best-he-could-do- ‘frittata’-but-let’s-be-honest-they’re-just-omelettes-’ on the pan, when he heard Louis’ shower shut off. As he was panicking over that, the teapot on the stove chose then to scream for his attention as well, and he scrambled to get everything under control. 

~~~~

Louis unfogged the mirror once again and looked into it, slapping his cheeks lightly to give them some colour, and he decided it was time to leave the safety of the bathroom. He walked through the hall incredibly slowly, not really sure what to expect. But the smell wafting from the kitchen was a big clue, so he decided to try there first. Peeking his head around the corner, he saw Harry with his back to him, softly humming to himself whilst pouring tea into two of his mugs, and a table full of fresh breakfast. This boy was a vision to him even from behind, with his hair wrapped up in a bun, his long legs stretching on forever in his black boxer shorts. And he had made Louis breakfast. “Harry?” he squeaked out, finding his voice at last. 

Harry whipped his head around “Oh. Louis! Um… I made breakfast, in case you’re hungry. I hope you don’t mind me using all your kitchen supplies, I’ll wash them,” said Harry, also looking down at the shirt he was wearing. “I also hope you don’t mind me borrowing your shirt, mine was a little dirty.” 

Louis’ eyes travelled down, and Harry was indeed wearing his shirt and did he look good in it. Louis shook his head politely, but inside he was still very frustrated with himself. Whatever you’re thinking Louis, stop it! he mentally scolded. 

“Um… how did you… how did we… what happened last night?” Louis asked nervously as a faint smile appeared across Harry’s lips. Instead of answering straight away, he handed Louis a cuppa tea and two Advil. 

“Here. Think you might need this. Well…,” Harry began, having a sip of tea and taking a seat at the counter, motioning for Louis to do the same. “Okay, so we went to Wellington’s, and I daresay had a bit too much to drink. You more than me, really. We ran into Stan there though, and we all hung out for a bit, and he offered to take you home but I said I would, but since neither of us could really drive, he dropped us off anyway. I figured I couldn’t leave you in the state you were in, so I kind of invited myself in. Truth be told, I don’t really remember anything else. But if that empty bottle of vodka on the coffee table had anything to do with me, then I know why.” 

 

The more Harry spoke, the more mortified Louis became. He sat quietly listening, eating the breakfast Harry had made which, by the way, was delicious. Was there anything this boy couldn’t do? “I’m really sorry I was such a bother last night. You didn’t deserve that.” said Louis around a mouthful of eggs, trying his best not to look at Harry. “I guess I just wanted to forget about…,” he stopped, hardly wanting to even go there. 

“I know. Although, when we got home you did try to kiss me again. A lot. Also, sorry about staying over. I just had to make sure you were ok.” 

Louis’ fork stopped mid-air and dropped from his hand, clattering loudly onto his plate, and he turned to Harry with a petrified expression. “What? Tell me we didn’t, Harry.” 

Harry looked momentarily disappointed, but quickly recovered himself and smiled reassuringly. “No, Louis. We didn’t. You were sloshed, weren’t you. I would never take advantage of that, no matter how much I… how much I wanted to,” he admitted, looking down at his plate. Why did I have to say that? he thought.

Louis’ eyes bored into Harry like daggers, at a complete loss of how to respond. No matter how much he wanted to? Did that mean that Harry… no. He said he wasn’t gay, so it couldn’t be that. They were both just hungover and tired, right? Oh bloody hell, there was only one way to find out. “Harry are you sure you’re not-” Louis paused, “-are you not doing anything today? Or do you need me to drive you back to Manchester?” he finished, unable to bring himself to ask the question burning in his mind. 

Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow, obviously realizing what Louis had been about to ask, but he didn’t want to press any further. “I think I would like a lift back, please. If it’s not too much trouble, that is.” 

“No trouble at all, lad,” Louis assured.

Harry could’ve easily taken the tube back, but he wanted to spend as much time with Louis as he could. It was unavoidable. The more time he spent with Louis, the more drawn he was to him. The less he wanted to let him go. Harry had only ever been attracted to girls, for the most part, but this Louis was something else. 

A sudden thought struck Harry so hard, it made him doubt his entire life. Was he ever truly attracted to girls? He wracked his brain for an example, some sort of proof that he was on the wrong train of thought. Sure, they were pretty and fun, but no girl in the world had ever made his heart jump the way Louis did when he looked into his eyes, like he was unfortunately doing right now. He tried for almost a minute to remember just one girl that has had this effect on him, and he came up short every time. Not able to sit still any longer, Harry stood and took his plate to the sink to start the washing up. 

“No no no, I don’t think so, lad! You helped me home, put me to bed I think, didn’t let me kiss you, and you made me breakfast. You’ve done quite enough for me. I’ll wash up, you go take a shower,” Louis insisted, shooing Harry in the direction of the bathroom.

Let you kiss me. Believe me, I wanted to, Harry thought sadly to himself as he walked down the hallway.

Harry stepped out of the shower, and threw a towel around his waist. He was drying off his hair when Louis walked in. He was only going to give Harry a clean toothbrush, but when his eyes landed on the boy, his breath caught in his throat. Harry was a sight to be seen. The laurel leaves on his hips, a large black butterfly on his stomach, and matching sparrows on his pectorals were all simply ravishing. He looked like a tattooed supermodel, and Louis fully forgot what he even came in for. His body is so obviously masculine, but when you turn your attention to the face, he has some of the softest and just... prettiest features Louis’ ever seen. It’s a cruel joke, really. These kind of facial attributes on a girl could be one Louis might fall for.

“Louis? Everything ok, there?” Harry asked smugly, aware of the effect he was having on Louis. He leaned over smirking, and grabbed the toothbrush right out of Louis’ frozen hand, returning to the sink with a quiet, “Thank you.”

“Do you need another shirt?” Louis asked distractedly, feet already moving him to his closet. 

“No. I should just put last night's clothes back on. Especially since we're going to be leaving soon. No time to wash them, and I wouldn’t want to steal your clothes,” said Harry, coming up behind Louis, reaching around him and returning Louis’ grey shirt to his hands. 

Louis felt Harry’s bare chest momentarily brush up against his back and he froze, the spell from the park returning at full capacity. He slowly turned as Harry walked away, and watched him drop the towel and reach for his jeans, clad only in his boxers. Louis couldn't contain it anymore if he tried. And he did. 

For two seconds. 

But that didn’t work, did it? 

Dropping his t-shirt without a care, he stalked up to Harry and grabbed him by his leafy hips and spun him around, smashing the fronts of their bodies together. 

Harry hesitated at first, clearly shocked and unsure of Louis’ intentions. But on the other hand, he was also extremely excited at Louis’ sudden course of action. Time was slowing down again as he stared into Louis’ eyes. Eyes that were burning with such a passionate intensity that they became the very last things in the world. “Louis, what are you-” 

“Shhhh…,” Louis hushed, running his hands all the way up Harry’s body from his hips, making Harry hiss and shudder in response. His wandering hands landed on Harry’s cheeks and he pulled that beautiful face down to his own. Their eye contact was starting to destroy all their inhibitions, and suddenly everything made perfect sense. This was right. Louis forgot all about the outside world, the only thing that existed or mattered in any way was this wonderful boy in front of him. Just for him. “Harry, just...just…” 

Literally one second before Louis was going to crash their eager lips together, he was interrupted in the worst way imaginable by a sudden and incessant knocking at his door. Ah, he thought dejectedly. That’ll be the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like it... Chapter is a bit muddled. You'll see why... Xx


	5. Sunday funday

“Boobear! You up love? I need a favour,” came the voice of a woman filtering through the front door. Louis loudly sighed and released Harry’s face, letting his hands fall at his sides. “It’s me Mum. I’m sorry, I’ll only be minute,” he informs Harry while he heads for the door. Opening it, he is greeted with his Mum’s judgemental, if not understanding gaze. 

“Late night again, Lou?” she chastised, pulling him into a quick hug. Looking over his shoulder, she then spots the shirtless boy hovering in the back by the hallway. “You’ve got company? I’m sorry, I didn’t realise. I tried calling, but you weren’t answering so I thought I’d come straight here,” she says apologetically. 

Louis looks tensely between his Mum and Harry, and tries to play it off as innocently as possible. “Mum, this is Harry. He’s a friend of mine from Manchester. Harry, this is me Mum, Johannah.” 

“Oh please, call me Jay. Pleasure to meet you, Harry,” Jay insists, pulling him into a tight motherly hug as well. “Have you two got any plans then, Lou? I’m sorry to intrude, but I need you to watch the twins for a bit if you could. Daniel and I run need to run some errands, and the girls aren’t going to be home until later. We won’t be long. Could you do it?” 

Louis looks torn, turning to Harry as he replies. “Well... Mum I was actually just about to-” 

“Louis was about to do nothing of any sort,” Harry interceded before Louis had a chance to finish. “We would be more than happy to watch the twins, right Lou? Can we go? You can take me home later. Oh I just love children, how old are they?” 

“They’re wily little two year olds,” said Jay, giving Louis a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you so much, boys. We shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours. The twins’ lunch is in the fridge. So nice to meet you, Harry. Thanks again,” she said hurriedly and rushed out of the flat.

Louis turned to Harry and raised an eyebrow. “You sure you’re alright with this? The twins can be a handful sometimes.”

Harry was already heading to the bedroom to get dressed, but he turned around to face Louis, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Louis, stop. I’m one hundred percent positive,” he promised, smiling at Louis encouragingly. “Boobear,” he added teasingly. Louis’ eyebrows raised into his hairline, but Harry paid it no mind. “I love kids. It’ll be fun.” 

Louis thought he was going to melt at Harry’s touch. And he’d called him Boobear? He loved the way it sounded with his voice. He so badly wanted to grab the boy and kiss him for real this time, but he held himself together and instead pushed him away and into the bedroom. “Better get dressed, baby cakes. I’ll be in the living room,” he said, closing the door behind a scoffing Harry.

As confident as he seemed, Harry actually feared he was going to pass out from all the nerves. He held his hands out in front of him to inspect how badly he was shaking. Like a leaf. Goodness. Pull yourself together, Styles he chided himself. He had just met Louis’ mum. And now he was going to spend the day with his siblings? That’s a lot of family for one day. Also, Louis was about to kiss him before Jay knocked at door. So there’s that. Which could only really mean one thing; that whatever Harry was feeling, Louis was too. If only he knew what the next course of action was because right now he didn’t know what to do.

\-----

Meeting the twins had been a dream come true for Harry. Their names were Ernest and Doris, and they were the most adorable kids of all time. They had run around with him, laughed with him, and shown him all their favourite toys, making him play with each and every one and Harry couldn’t think of anything else he’d rather be doing. Before he knew it, three hours had already gone by and he was positively exhausted from trying to keep up with the two year old’s combined energies. 

Harry and Louis were neck deep in toddler time; Harry busy arranging flowers in a circle on the ground with Doris, and Louis teaching Ernest how to correctly kick a football when they heard a request shouted from inside the house. 

“Louis! Come give me a hand, would you?” yelled a man that Harry assumed to be Daniel, after hearing all about him from Louis.

“Coming! Be right back, Hazza,” said Louis, rushing into the house to help Jay and Dan with their groceries. 

Hazza?, Harry thought. I’ll have to ask him about that one.

Johannah strolled out of the house and stopped at the edge of the porch, fondly watching Harry crouching on the floor as the twins clambered on top of him, laughing hysterically as he picked them up and placed them back on the ground, only to have them do it again. 

“Again, Hawwy!” Ernest cried. 

Doris was also in agreement. “Hawwa. Again, Hawwa.”

Louis came up behind his mother, and they both cooed at the scene in front of them. “Where did you find him, Lou?” Johannah wondered out loud, looking to her son. 

 

Louis had a mushy love-struck smile on his face, and it didn’t escape his mother’s notice. It was the kind of smile that comes from deep within the soul, and crinkles one’s eyes. “Told you, Mum. Manchester. When Stan, Josh and I went up last weekend,” he replied.

“So you boys are good friends, then?” Jay asked, trying to get as much information as she could. She was very aware of what was going on here, but she was trying to see if Louis himself even knew yet.

“Yeah, we are. For how short I’ve known him, we just really connected. Feels like I’ve known him for years. He’s brilliant, isn’t he?” Louis remarked, still watching Harry adoringly. 

Johannah grabbed his chin, turning his face toward her. “Alright, love. Just remember that I love you, no matter what. You know that, right?” she spoke into Louis’ questioning gaze. “I think you two are a great match.” She let go of her son’s face, not waiting for a reply, and walked over to Harry and the twins, picking up both of her children from the grass. Harry stood up as well, wiping the grass and dirt off of his clothes. “Harry, I really must thank you for helping Lou out today. I hope they weren’t too much trouble,” she said. 

“It was my pleasure, Jay,” said Harry, reaching out to tweak Doris’ nose as she giggled and hid in her Mum’s jumper. “They’re just darlings.” 

“Oh, thank you, love. They seem to really like you. Feel free to come back any time,” she told Harry, leaning over the twins in her arms and kissing Harry on the cheek. “Well I better get these little ones inside and cleaned up. Thanks again, both of you,” she said to them as she headed inside, passing Louis and whispering something in his ear that, Harry saw, made a very large and beautiful smile light up his face. 

Harry cocked his head to the side, and was going to ask Louis what she had just said, but Louis stopped him before he could by smiling and slightly shaking his head. “Come on Hazza, let’s get you home,” Louis called.

“Hazza. What is Hazza? Where did that come from?” Harry asked before he could forget.

“I don’t know, if I’m honest. Why, do you not like it? It’s either Harold, or Hazza. Take your pick.” 

When Harry just stared at him and chuckled to himself, Louis made the decision for him. “Hazza it is, then.”

“Whatever you say, Boobear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably my least favorite chapter so far... But have to set the scene... Hope you all like it xx


	6. For The First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to 1D_Amy for being the inspiration for the chapter

The drive back to Manchester was a quiet one. Harry had fallen asleep practically five minutes after getting into the car. Louis didn’t mind though, he had a million questions running through his mind, and he wouldn’t even know where to start. What did his Mum mean by ‘I love you no matter what’? And of course there was the almost-kiss. He turned to his left and glanced at Harry sleeping peacefully. “Am I falling for you, Hazza?” Louis breathed out loud. 

Harry unfortunately started to stir, and Louis hastily turned back to face the road, heart in this throat, praying Harry hadn’t just heard that embarrassing confession. In a panic he decided to play some music, but he’d failed to notice Harry had fully woken up, hand also reaching for the heater. Their hands collided in the middle and a jolt from the skin contact shot through Louis, and he pulled his hand back as if it had burned him. 

“Oh sorry,” Harry said groggily. “I didn’t mean to.” 

Louis reached his hand back to the radio and turned it on, Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap filling the car with its soft melodies. “It’s quite alright, Harold.”

“Harold?” Harry asked. “I thought it was Hazza, now.”

“It’s whatever I want it to be, Hazzold,” Louis joked, laughing at the disapproving stare he got from Harry. “By the way, what’s your last name?”

“Styles,” Harry replied through a yawn.

“Styles?” Louis asked rolling it off of his tongue. “Styles. Styles. Harry Styyyyles. Harry Styles.”

Harry was laughing like crazy after hearing Louis pronounce his name in so many ways and accents. “Oh my god Louis, yes, that’s my name,” Harry said, secretly loving hearing his full name from Louis’ mouth. “Well now that you’ve worn mine out, what’s yours?” he asked.

“Tomlinson. But forget about mine. Styles. Harry Styles. I love it. You sound like a secret agent. Agent Styles... Anyway, did you sleep well? It’s rather perfect timing, we’re nearly there,” Louis informed, reaching to changing the station. “Oh god, I hate this bloody tune.”

“Don’t you dare, Louis,” Harry warned, hands shooting out and grabbing onto Louis’. “This is my favourite song, prat,” he said, still holding on to Louis’ hand, and he began to sing along to further his point.

So stay there  
Cuz I’ll be coming over  
While our blood’s still young  
It’s so young is runs  
Won’t stop ‘til it’s over  
Won’t stop to surrender

 

Louis stared at his boy (his?), absolutely mesmerized by the incredible talent he was hearing, only glancing at the road when he had to. Harry’s voice was like an earful of melted caramel, and Louis could and wanted to listen to it all day. He sounded so wonderful that Louis hoped the song would never end. He had never really liked this song, but with Harry singing it, it might be his favourite now. Harry just had this tendency to make the most mundane things absolutely perfect. Louis hand squeezed Harry’s a little before very reluctantly letting go, realizing he needed to focus. If he allowed himself to get any more intoxicated by the boy next to him, he would pull over this car and snog Harry six ways to Sunday, and he really wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

~~~

Harry was still singing about moments, dreams, laughs, and kisses, secretly hoping Louis would hear the meaning Harry was putting behind it. That it was all for him. When Louis let go of his hand and turned back to face the road, Harry could only hope he’d understood it, and he fixed his gaze through his window to the scenery flying by. Words weren’t needed, because hopefully the words of the song had said it all.

The song ended precisely as Louis pulled up to Harry’s house. Louis switched the engine off, leaving the radio on, and turned to face Harry.

“Thanks for the ride, Louis,” Harry said smiling, reaching over to grab his camera bag from the backseat. “And for showing me around Doncaster. And buying me drinks. And taking me to play with Ernest and Doris. And taking me to the game. And-”

“Harry, don’t mention it. I had a great time with you,” Louis persisted. “Sorry for getting a bit too pissed on Saturday, you shouldn’t have had to take care of me like that.”

“It’s alright,” replied Harry. “You weren’t a nuisance, or anything. You were actually a delight. Are a delight,” he corrected, smiling cheekily. 

Louis was about to respond when For the First Time by The Script chose to bless him with its presence, and he turned it up. The Script was one of his favourite bands of all time.

“Oh god, I love this song,” said Harry, leaning back into the seat and closing his eyes.

“Yeah, me too,” replied Louis, gazing at Harry’s face as it took his breath away for the millionth time.

“I remember when I saw The Script in concert in Manchester. It was the best night of my life,” said Harry, nodding his head along to the song.

Louis’ mouth dropped open. “Was this in 2009? By any chance the 8th of February?” Louis asked, currently unable to blink.

Harry’s eyes flew open and he turned in his seat to face Louis. “Yeah, it was. Were you at that show, Louis?”

Louis nodded, eyes wide, hardly able to believe what was happening.  
Harry just busted out laughing at the fated coincidence. Why didn’t this even surprise him? His laughter died down, and he settled for silently smiling at Louis, letting the sounds of the song soothe his nerves.

This is it, Louis thought. If he didn’t do it now, he would regret it forever. Harry was staring into his soul, eyes burrowing a home for themselves in Louis’. “Harry Styles?”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows in amusement at the use of his full name. “Yes, Louis Tomlinson?” he asked distractedly, before taking in the situation. “Oh, sorry, am I holding you up? You’ve probably got to go do stuff. I’m sorry, I’ll get out, or do you want to come in for a cup of-“ 

Harry wasn’t able to finish his sentence because Louis moved like lightning, grabbing his face with his small hands, and smashing their lips together. Harry was on the verge of evaporating into light particles as the passion from the kiss was sending waves of tingles throughout his whole body. The one kiss turned into several, and then he was truly kissing Louis and flip, was it amazing. He closed his eyes, reaching out and pulled Louis closer by his shoulders, any second thought possible long forgotten.

Louis took this as a good sign, and moved himself closer. He just had to be closer, he was never freaking close enough. 

Grasping at each other’s hair and faces, the boys kissed like the world was ending as the words of the song danced around them, giving the soundtrack to this unforgettable moment.

We’re smiling, but we’re close to tears  
Even after all these years  
We just now got the feeling that we’re meeting  
For the first time

After spending almost the whole song wrapped in each other’s arms locked in their passionate bubble, they slowly pulled back as it ended. They were completely breathless but when Louis could finally talk, he reached back up to hold Harry’s cheek in his left hand. “Harry-”

“I know,” Harry agreed, shushing Louis and running his hands through the boy’s hair. “I know.” 

Louis looked like he was about to start crying, choked up with so much raw emotion.

“What is happening to us, Louis?”, Harry asked. “What is this?”

Louis looked away, contemplating it for a minute, before simply shrugging his shoulders, and finding Harry’s eyes again. “I don’t know, Harold,” he admitted, rubbing his hands up and down Harry’s arms. “All’s I know is you make me feel alive, and I really love that feeling. And I’m starting to give up fighting it,” he gestured to his closeness to Harry “Clearly,” he added with a laugh, reaching out and tugging at one of the curly locks he was so fond of.

Harry smiled at his words and leaned forward, touching their foreheads together, closing his eyes. He was falling head over heels in love with Louis, and he couldn’t slow it down, but he didn’t want to. “So...what about that cuppa?” he asked hopefully.

Louis’ face fell, but he pressed another kiss to Harry’s lips. “I would. I really would, but I made plans with Niall watch the game tonight, and then I’ve got work early in the morning, so I’ve got to drive home,” he explained apologetically. “I’m sorry, Harry. But I can’t stay away from you now, so I’ll be around soon,” he promised, lightly tickling Harry’s sides.

“Alright, that’s okay. Tell Niall hello from me, and don’t have too much fun. Wouldn’t want him carrying you back to Yorkshire,” teased Harry, climbing off Louis’ lap and getting out of his car.

“Wait, Harry?” Louis called, getting the boy to turn around expectantly. “Can I see you next weekend? You could come over again, or I could come here? Are you busy next weekend? If not, what about the following weekend?” Louis rambled.

“I’d love too, Boobear. This weekend sounds fine, but I’ll make sure and get back to you,” said Harry, leaning back in the car and giving Louis a light peck on the cheek. 

Louis was revelling in the feeling of Harry’s lips on his cheek, and when he pulled away Louis quickly dove in to plant one last kiss on his lips. “See you soon, baby cakes,” he said, giving Harry a wink before driving off. 

Harry stood on the sidewalk and watched Louis drive away until the car turned a corner, and he was left alone. Taking a deep breath, he turned to run inside his house, giggling like an idiot. He had to thank The Script for causing Louis to ‘give up fighting it’, and he was replaying every detail of the last five minutes in his mind as he opened his front door, and was met with a smug Gemma smirking her face off, and his Mum grinning at him expectantly, hands clasped at her chest.

“What’s his name?” Anne blurted, practically jumping up and down in glee.

“Oh...he...he’s- I- er..,” he stuttered, too stunned to properly answer.

Gemma just laughed and passed him by the hallway, clapping him on the shoulder on her way. “Well done, little brother,” she said approvingly.

Harry hardly got any kind of breather before Anne was dragging him to the couch by his sleeve, plopping him down, and begging for the details behind what she’d just seen, excitement all over her features. So with a sigh, he relented, and began to tell his mother all about the amazing Louis Tomlinson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it. All the love xx


	7. Kiss me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its been so long since an upload. life has been so busy.

Louis had practically been walking on air all week. He and Harry had spoken on the phone every night since Sunday, and Louis could feel himself falling faster in love every minute. They spoke about everything under the sky, and nothing all at once. Text messages only happened when they had to, because they much preferred hearing each other’s voices. Louis felt like a new person. He was singing in the shower, singing in the car, and he’d even starting writing music again. He hadn’t felt this complete in a long time, and it was all thanks to Harry.

He was busy at work unpacking the new Lego sets that had come in and putting them on the shelf, and all he could think about was the next time he would talk to Harry. When he was finished with the Lego’s, he grabbed the empty box and headed over to the music aisle. Normally, he would play the keyboards on display for the random cute girls that would come in looking for a present for her little brother or sister. And it had always been successful in acquiring their numbers, but now his music felt too personal to play. Most likely because it was all inspired by Harry now. Besides, he wasn’t interested in impressing anyone else on the planet anymore, he hadn’t even played for Harry yet. 

He slid his fingers across the keys, setting down the box, so he could quickly run through a new song while he was alone in the aisle. He smiled to himself as he played. Harry. He would be seeing him this Saturday night. Louis had it all planned out. He would take Harry to the Doncaster Dome for some ice-skating, and then back to his flat to try and cook dinner for him. He thought it was perfect, he just hoped Harry would think so too.

~~~~

It was now Saturday morning, and Harry was still lying in bed, anxious as all hell. He hadn’t gotten proper sleep last night because his mind had been running non-stop, and he was also just too excited and nervous about tonight. He rolled over on his side and stared at his clock, mentally replaying last night’s conversation. 

“So what are we doing tomorrow?” Harry inquired. Louis was being way too mysterious. It was endearing, but Harry wasn’t sure if he was up for this surprise. 

“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you Harold? I promise it will be fun. And if it’s not, you get dibs on the next dates’ activities,” Louis promised, poorly stifling a yawn. It was now almost two in the morning, and Harry yawned in tandem. 

Several minutes went by with neither of them saying anything. Before one of them started snoring, Harry tiredly spoke into the phone. “We should probably hang up now, and get some sleep,” he said. “I’ll let you go so you can get your beauty rest. See you tomorrow, Boobear.” 

To which Louis replied, “Mmmnight. Love you,” and cut the call. 

Louis in his sleepy haze had said he loved him, which was the leading cause of Harry’s insomnia. It was probably a mistake, in a state like that people could probably say anything. But maybe Harry should just take it at face value. Louis had said he loved him. If Harry had gotten the chance to reply, he would have said it too, because it was true. However soon it seemed to feel this strongly, he couldn’t deny it. Harry was truly, madly, deeply in love with Louis, and he was going to make sure the boy knew it.

It was eventually three in the afternoon, and Harry jumped off the tube, straightening his jumper. He hadn’t known what to wear but it was quite cold with a promise of rain, so he’d opted for a beige jumper, black jeans, and a wide-brim fedora. He only hoped that he was appropriately dressed for whatever mysterious thing Louis had planned. He scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on an adorable looking Louis. He was dressed in a red jumper, black jeans that were rolled up at the ankles, and a big knitted grey beanie. He looked so warm and cuddly. His big blue eyes locked with Harry’s, and he smiled brilliantly. Harry grinned right back and was struck with the thought that immediately, he felt like he was home. 

He made his way over to Louis with a bounce in his step trying, but utterly failing, to contain his excitement. He stopped in front of Louis, not sure how to greet him, but Louis did it for him as he pulled him into an embrace. Louis’ arms wrapped around Harry’s torso delicately, and he nuzzled his face in his curly hair, and Harry leaned down and did some nuzzling of his own.

Yes. He was home.

Louis had walked Harry to his car, and they were currently driving through Doncaster, Louis still not telling Harry what they would be doing. “Come on just tell me,” Harry begged, turning in the seat so that he was facing Louis. 

“I told you it’s a surprise, innit, so quit asking, you tosser. We’re nearly there anyway,” he replied, the corners of his mouth turning up as he pulled into a parking lot. He switched the car off and turned to face Harry. “Surprise,” he said finally. 

“Oh my god Louis, the Donny Dome, this is awesome! I only have the pictures I took the first time,” Harry exclaimed. 

Louis breathed a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “I was hoping you would say that. You seemed to love photographing it, so I thought you may want to go. Come on love, we’re going ice-skating.” 

They exited the car and walked to the entrance together, arms brushing against each other very intentionally. Harry longed to hold Louis’ hand, but he feared that might be too much. Especially since most of their, dare he say, intimate moments had occurred in private. No, he would wait for Louis to make the first public move. This was his town, anyway.

Louis glanced around the ice rink nervously when they got inside. He prayed that Stan, or any other mates, weren’t around today. This was the classic date spot he and his friends would take girls to, so the possibility was a real one. And while he was starting to get used to having feelings for Harry, he wasn’t quite ready to share it with anybody just yet. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of Harry or anything, just that he didn’t want to have to answer all the questions he’d be asked. He wanted him and Harry to be safe and free from all that for now. He would do anything to protect their happiness.

Thankfully, it didn’t look like he had anything to worry about as the rink was empty of any familiar faces. On his part, anyway.

“Ed! What are you doing here, mate?” Harry suddenly shouted at a rather tall ginger fellow. 

“Harry! I’m playing at a pub, mate. I’m actually just on my way out, was just here with my lovely date. This is Nicole, by the way,” Ed explained, gesturing to the girl at his side. “The question is what are you doing here, Harry?” 

Harry looked nervously at Louis, not sure how to phrase whatever this was. “Oh...Well I was with my friend Louis here, and he was nice enough to take me ice-skating. You two haven’t met before, pardon me. Um, Louis this is my friend Ed. Ed, Louis and I met at the Black Aces that one night, and have been... hanging out ever since then,” he said, hoping Ed wouldn’t ask any more than what he just told him. 

As fate would have it, Ed looked incredibly suspicious, but luckily didn’t press any further. Harry feared he would be getting a text from Ed asking him to explain soon, though. “Right well, I’m playing at Wellington’s later tonight at around seven o’clock. I’d love it if you two could come. In fact, I’m asking you to,” said Ed. “Have a good one, guys, hope to see you later. It was nice to meet you, Louis,” he concluded, waving to the both of them and ushering his date out the door.

“So who was that, exactly?” asked Louis as he and Harry were putting their skates on. 

“Ed’s one of my best mates back home. He’s a family friend, known him for years. He’s a really great singer, if you’ve got nothing else planned for tonight, we should definitely go to the show. You’ll enjoy him, I’m sure,” Harry replied, standing up and waiting for Louis as he laced up the last of his skates. 

“No, that sounds top. I’d love to have a listen,” he assured, holding out his hand to Harry, who easily pulled him up. “Come on, love. Let’s go skating.” 

Harry smiled from ear to ear when Louis didn’t let go of his hand. 

\---

A bunch of laps, and a whole lot of falling on their butts later, Harry and Louis were barely standing on their feet they were so exhausted. “That was so much fun, Louis!” Harry declared, collapsing on the bench and taking his skates off. 

“Wasn’t it? I haven’t done that in ages. I almost forgot how,” laughed Louis, sitting down next to Harry and working on his own skates. “Do you still want to go and check out your friend at the pub?” 

“Um… If we can. I mean, I don’t know what you have planned,” Harry said. “If you have something, we don’t have to go,” he quickly added, gathering his skates and walking with Louis to the front desk. 

“No no, it’s perfectly fine, let’s go. As long as you’re not too hungry,” said Louis.

They returned their skates to the employee, and jumped in the car to head to Wellington’s. Upon arrival, they saw they were just on time and quickly grabbed a good table, waiting for Ed to finish setting up while Louis fetched drinks from the bar. “Hey everyone, name’s Ed Sheeran, thanks for coming out tonight. This song I’m about to do is a new one I’ve just been working on. It’s called ‘Kiss Me’, and I hope you like it,” said Ed, winking at Harry, and turning his attention to his guitar. 

As he strummed the first few notes, Louis returned to the table with the beers, setting Harry’s down in front of him. He nudged Harry with his knee, who turned around to give him a smile. Harry got the hint and leaned back a bit, pressing their sides together, as they listened to Ed’s voice carry through the pub.

Kiss me like you wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
This feels like falling in love  
Falling in love  
We’re falling in love

 

Harry turned and looked up at Louis with eyes that once again said it all. The song, like every other song that’s ever played around them, seemed to speak to their situation perfectly. And Harry hoped and prayed Louis felt it, too. Louis stared straight back with a reassuring smile that promised he was having the exact same thoughts. They continued listening to the rest of Ed’s set, giving him a standing ovation when he finished. 

They approached him as he was packing up to say goodnight, Louis adamant about letting him know how amazing his writing was. Ed pulled Louis into a hug in thanks for the compliments, and made a thumbs up at Harry behind Louis’ back. Harry wondered if there was anyone who didn’t know about them. Gemma must have said something, that wanker. But Ed’s approval meant a lot because he was really protective of Harry, so Harry just blew Ed a kiss to show his gratitude. 

Louis walked back to Harry and when Ed was out of earshot, he slyly wrapped his fingers around Harry’s hand, looking at him with a hopeful look in his eyes. “Come home with me.”

I already am, Harry thought, but was quick to agree. “Okay,” he said behind a smile worth a million pounds.

\---

Louis pulled into his driveway only ten minutes later and turned the car off, getting out and walking around to open Harry’s door. “Alright Hazza, let’s eat,” he said helping Harry out of the car. 

Harry grabbed his hand and straightened himself out, looking at him with confusion. “Are we ordering in? Or do you have amazing culinary skills I’m unaware of?” Harry inquired as they made their way up to the door. Louis remained frustratingly tight lipped as he fumbled with his keys and opened it, holding it open for Harry of course. 

Harry stepped in and was very pleasantly surprised. The place had been cleaned and organized top to bottom, and felt much more spacious than it had been the first time he’d been here. Louis had even set the table already with posh plates and wine glasses. After Harry had approvingly surveyed his surroundings, Louis stepped in to speak. “I’m going to cook dinner for you. Shouldn’t take too long, I don’t think. You can watch some telly in the meantime if you want.” 

Harry lightly chuckled at that last part. “No, Louis, I think I would much rather like to watch you cook. To keep you company, of course... as well as my own selfish reasons.” 

Louis’ heart sped up at the sudden pressure on him. Now he really couldn’t screw this up. Thank god he had sort of prepared everything already. He wouldn’t have been able to handle a knife to cut the meat right now with these nerves.

Harry perched himself on the barstool at the counter and sipped on the dark red wine he’d poured into his glass, as Louis busied himself with what looked like chicken and ham with mashed potatoes, downright refusing any help Harry offered. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and snapped a picture of Chef Louis. This was definitely a moment to remember. 

Within half an hour, Louis had plated the food, and was now chivalrously presenting it to Harry, smiling proudly. “Chicken, stuffed with mozzarella, wrapped in parma ham, with a side of homemade mashed potatoes,” he announced, taking the seat opposite Harry.

“You’ve outdone yourself, Boobear,” Harry said teasingly, as he dug in with his utensils. 

“I hope it tastes okay. First time I’ve really cooked an actual meal that wasn’t from a box,” Louis admitted around a mouthful of chicken. 

“Well you did an amazing job, these potatoes are amazing!” Harry praised as he scooped up more from his plate.

Before long, the food was finished, wine bottle empty, and the easy conversation they’d been having began to die down. “That really was lovely Lou, thank you,” said Harry shyly. “Nobody’s ever cooked for me before. Well except Mum, of course.” 

“You’re very welcome, Curly. I’m just glad you liked it,” Louis replied, standing up suddenly and forgoing the cleaning for now. “Forget the dishes, come sit with me,” Louis said, moving to the couch and instantly falling into it. Harry willingly followed, mischievously typing something on his mobile that he showed to Louis when he sat down. 

Louis’ first ever cooking experience!, it read, complete with the picture he had slyly snapped earlier. Louis, though surprised at first, nodded his assent, and spoke out a slightly slurred “siiiiick”, as he smiled and hit the tweet button himself. He didn’t care if anyone he knew saw it, he was just glad Harry was alright with posting something like that to his social media.

Both full and a little drunk, Louis couldn’t be bothered to turn the telly on, so they both sat in silence for a while. 

Harry, in a bold move, took Louis’ hand in his own, interlocking their fingers, and mindlessly ran his other hand over Louis’ bird tattoo on his forearm. “Louis... last night on the phone, you said something...”, Harry began, a little afraid to continue. 

“Oh yeah? What did I say?” asked Louis, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

“… You said that you loved me…”, Harry blurted, squeezing his eyes shut. He halted his finger tracing on the tattoo when he felt Louis stiffen, and chanced a peek at the boy with one eye, finding Louis already staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. He quickly re-opened both of his eyes, but said nothing, waiting for Louis to respond.

“Did I, now…”, he murmured. Louis knew the truth. He knew he loved Harry. Of course he did. How could he not? Harry was perfect in every way, there were no doubts on Louis’ end, but did Harry feel the same? 

Louis put his hand over Harry’s, rubbing circles into it, and that was all the encouragement Harry needed. He untangled their hands, and reached around the back of Louis’ neck to pull his face centimeters from his own, feeling Louis’ slow breath on his lips. “Yeah, you did. And I just wanted to tell you… that I love you too,” Harry breathed, and promptly closed the distance between their lips. 

Louis closed his eyes and moaned in pleasure as he kissed Harry back, pulling him closer, wrapping his arms around the boy’s firm back. This was it. They really were pursuing whatever this was. They were going to do this. They felt the finality and the decisions being made as they kissed. It was like sealing a deal. They were going to love each other as deeply, and as passionately as they possibly could. There were to be no more blocks, no contemplations; just the irrefutable reality that they were in love, and they were going to stay like that, regardless of what anyone in the world could have to say about it.

After many minutes of pure bliss, Louis pulled back, taking a hold of Harry’s face, and staring into his eyes. “Stay with me?” he whispered against Harry’s lips. 

Louis. Harry stared back, mouth dropping open just a bit, as a sudden realization hit him like a truck. “I think I always will,” he whispered back, reverently smoothing his palms across Louis’ cheeks. 

Louis only grinned victoriously and stood up, reached for Harry’s hand and headed to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. this is my most favorite chapter xx


	8. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reluctantly he switched the engine on and slowly pulled out onto the street. This was not how he pictured this weekend ending, but then he had never planned on sleeping with Harry either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to 1D_Amy for helping me out at odd hours of the night, you're amazing!

Louis stirred awake in an entanglement of limbs. He slowly opened his eyes to find soft brown curls and a very asleep Harry draped over him like a blanket. He closed his eyes, tightening his arms around his lovely Harry, and smiled. Last night had really happened. He’d gone all the way with Harry, and that scared him, but it had also been incredible, and here the boy was, safely tucked into Louis’ side dreaming peacefully. 

With a kiss to his hair, Louis slowly removed Harry’s arm that was wrapped around his torso, and quietly got out of bed. He grabbed his boxers and a t-shirt from the floor, and dressed as he walked. He would have stayed, but he was in dire need of tea. He waltzed into the kitchen, still pointedly ignoring the dishes from last night. He set the kettle on, and grabbed a cup from the cupboard, and now had the time to replay last night’s events in his head. 

Last night definitely had seemed like a good idea at the time, but the more he thought about it, the more antsy he got. They were both quite nervous obviously, but in time they figured out the logistics. And of course Louis couldn’t lie, it was absolutely amazing being with Harry. He’d lost his virginity to a girl, and had been with girls since then, and that had been cool and all, but last night. Last night was.... Blimey. 

But... in the morning light, last night’s activities seemed… ill-suited. The feelings were confusing. What would his friends think? Stan would freak the hell out. “What am I doing?” Louis whispered as he leaned his arms on the counter and closed his eyes.

“Lou?”, Harry asked. “You ok?”

Louis spun around and turned to find Harry standing in the doorway in nothing but his boxers. “Harry. Sorry, I didn’t hear you get up. I needed some tea,” Louis replied, turning off the stove and lifting the pot to start preparing it. “Do you want a cuppa?”

“Um, yeah. I woke up and you… um… yeah, I think tea would be nice,” Harry said, still looking at Louis questioningly, but otherwise silencing himself, and hopping onto the barstool. 

Louis could feel Harry’s gaze digging into his shoulder blades, but he refused to acknowledge it, busying himself with making the tea. When it was done, and he couldn’t procrastinate any longer, he turned and handed Harry his mug, meeting his eyes. Harry’s expression spelled out that he had really no idea what was happening. Louis took a seat opposite him, and their silence dragged on maddeningly. 

So Harry loudly dropped his mug onto the counter, and confronted Louis for his own mental health. “Louis, are we going to talk about last night? I feel like you-” 

Louis’ phone suddenly buzzed, and Harry almost facepalmed. “Sorry, thought I turned it off last night,” Louis said apologetically, as he got up to go inspect it. When he picked it up, he instantly paled. “Shit. Um... We need to go. Now,” he expressed in full panic mode, and sprinted back into his room. 

Harry sat unmoving, startled and confused. “What? Lou, what’s going on? I don’t understand what’s wrong. Who was that? Why do you seem-”

“Here,” Louis said, cutting Harry short and hurling his clothes from last night at him. “Get dressed. We’re leaving. I’ll explain in the car. We just have to go.” 

Harry nodded and obeyed, trying to dress himself in record time, while Louis was already finished with his last shoe. He grabbed Harry’s trainers and shoved them into Harry’s chest, snatching his car keys from the table and downing all of his tea like a shot of liquor. “You can put those on in the car,” Louis instructed in response to Harry’s bewildered look when he ran to open the door and motioned for Harry to leave. Harry obliged, quickly collecting his wallet, keys and phone, and hopped outside onto the pavement to stand barefoot, sneakers in hand, waiting for Louis to lock up. And waiting for answers on his increasingly strange behaviour.

“Tommo! There you are!” came the voice of Stan, already walking up the driveway. As Harry saw Louis freeze, he now understood the commotion. “Where are you off to? Didn’t you get my text?” he asked. Louis faked an easy smile and turned around. 

“Stanley. Hey lad. Sorry, I meant to reply, but last night got a bit crazy. I was just taking Harry here home, you’ll remember him, of course,” Louis said scratching the back of his neck.

Harry transferred both shoes to his left hand and stuck his right out to Stan. “It’s nice to see you again, Stan,” Harry greeted politely as Stan smiled at him, shaking the outstretched hand. 

“Wotcher, Harry. Good to see you too,” he replied, returning his attention to Louis, who was currently resembling an ant under a microscope. “So? Where were you last night? Called you a mad bunch of times.” 

“Erm… yeah. Well Harry and I were hanging out, weren’t we, and he wanted to check out the Donny Dome, so I took him there, and then we both got pretty drunk at Wellington’s and passed out I guess, you know how it is,” Louis tried to reason but he was talking much too fast for the neutrality he was going for, and he kept nervously glancing at Harry the whole time. 

Stan looked at Harry dubiously, who had crossed his arms over his chest and was raising a menacing eyebrow at Louis. “Oh... kay… well. What do you say? Up for a game or two?” Stan asked Louis. 

“I would love to mate, but I need to take Harry home right now, cuz...he’s got important stuff to do today, and then I’m meeting Niall right after for some brews,” he said to his friend. Harry’s neck jutted forward a bit in shocked disbelief, but Louis stared back equally as intensely with a look that willed him to keep quiet. Harry clicked his tongue, but he settled for putting his shoes on. 

“Oh alright. Well then sod off, you twat, you bloody well could have said so on the phone before I came all the way here, couldn’t you? The boys aren’t gonna be happy, but whatever... But since you’re on your way out, you better give me a lift back to the park,” Stan demanded, but there was no real fire behind his words. 

Louis breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, yeah, sure. Come on.” 

“Shotgun,” said Harry cutely, glaring at Louis as they walked to the car.

They arrived at the park several awkward minutes later, and Stan hopped out with a thank you, turning around to give Louis a last goodbye. “See you later, git,” he teased, giving Louis a smack on the head and flipping the bird. 

“Bugger off already, you knob!” shouted Louis in response, rubbing his head. 

\---

The car ride back to Manchester was a disturbingly quiet one, the low sounds of the radio being the only thing to reach their ears. Louis could occasionally feel Harry looking at him with insulted eyes, obviously waiting for answers, but Louis just didn’t feel like giving them at the moment. Mostly because he didn’t know what they were. 

“Louis, did you hear me?” Harry asked a bit annoyed. Louis had been so distracted, thinking so hard about how he could even start a conversation, that he completely missed Harry speaking to him. He hurriedly turned the radio off and finally faced his situation. 

“Sorry, Harry. Spaced out for a second. What did you say?” he asked, stealing a quick look at Harry and smiling apologetically before turning back to face the road. 

Harry huffed in response. “I asked you if you’re ever planning to tell me what happened back there. You know I’ve got nothing ‘important’ to do, and you completely panicked and tried to get me out cuz you knew Stan was coming, didn’t you, and don’t lie to me on that. Way to stab me in the chest with the Donny Dome, by the way. Cuz that was totally my idea,” Harry said, confirming all of Louis’ worst fears. “Are you even meeting Niall, or was that a lie too?” 

Louis stayed quiet for a moment trying to figure out how to explain himself, but he just couldn’t thoroughly talk about his feelings right now. “Harry, it’s complicated. I didn’t plan on meeting him, no, but I know where he is, he’s always in the same place at this time. Can we just discuss it later, after we go see him?” 

Harry stared back at Louis in defiance. “I didn’t say I wanted to come with you,” he said quietly. 

Louis’ stomach dropped. “I just thought… alright. I’ll take you home then,” he said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. 

Harry rounded on Louis from his seat. “You’re ashamed of me,” he accused, trying to fight back tears.

“What? No, Harry, I’m not, it’s just-”

“It’s what? You’re just ashamed of yourself? Don’t you know that’s the same thing? Affects me the same way?”

“Please, Harry,” Louis begged, hating what this was turning into.

“Please, what?” Harry scoffed. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve told my Mum about you. My sister knows. Even Ed knew. I’m not afraid to tell anyone about you, because you make me happy, and if it’s not the same for you all you had to do was say so, instead of you pretending I’m ‘just a friend’ to the people you care about, and sneaking me around like a dirty secret. You certainly had no problem with me last night which, by the way, we still need to talk about,” Harry finished, sucking in a breath at the end of his rant.

Louis had enough. “Harry, stop. For one, my Mum knows about you as well, because I’ve talked to her about you. So that assumption was wrong. Secondly, my friends are the kind of people that are extremely inappropriate, and they make gay jokes all the bloody time. It is a little difficult for me too, you realize. Considering we’re both ‘straight’ so, it’s going to take just a bit of time, innit,” Louis concluded, just as breathless, if not more. He wasn’t being entirely truthful either. He had no real motivation to waltz up and spill his guts to his friends, and he felt he could scream from all this frustration.

 

Harry reached out to touch Louis’ thigh, but when he felt Louis stiffen at the gesture, he removed his hand and after a few seconds said, “Louis, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was like that. You have to understand how it looked. Please can we just forget about it? I was being really selfish, I’m sorry. Of course it’s hard for you, too. Are we ok?” Harry asked, voice wavering. A thin lipped but sure nod from Louis gave Harry the courage to continue. “But afterwards, I would really like to try and figure out how to uncomplicate everything you said is complicated.” 

\---

They had arrived at the pub, and walked in standing a good metre apart from the other. They quickly found their friends and hours of socializing later, they all found themselves pissed again for the countless time this week. Liam and Harry were indulging in a bit of foosball, while Louis and Niall were engulfed in a game of pool. 

“Well, I think Liam and I have had enough of this,” Harry announced tiredly after what seemed like their 50th game of foosball, Liam nodding in agreement. “I need another drink. Anybody else need a refill?” he asked the group. Louis and Niall just shook their heads, too concentrated on the game to properly decline. 

“Well I’ll come with you, Harry. You’re right, this game’s wasted. Let’s find us a table as well, mate,” Liam chimed in, smiling at Harry as they made their way to the bar. Once they’d gotten their drinks and Liam had put in an order for food, they scanned the pub for seats, miraculously finding an open booth by the window, and quickly sitting down across from each other. They sat in comfortable silence until Liam narrowed his eyes, and cornered Harry like he’d wanted to for weeks now. “So what’s the deal with you and Louis?” he pried, clearly not interested in sugar-coating.

Harry froze, eyes widening guiltily. He had switched from brews to fruit juice, and now he really wished he hadn’t. “I… I… I don’t know what you mean,” he stuttered and defensively took a sip of his juice. 

“Well for how much Louis is always talking to you on the phone, you guys just seem a little... tense tonight,” Liam said carefully, deciding not to even mention the thousand other questions he had. 

“I’m just tired. Louis and I had a bit of a... long night last night. And I have a major headache,” Harry added, crossing his fingers under the table that Liam would be satisfied with that answer. Liam nodded, not seeming too convinced, but he shut up, and that was all Harry wanted.

The waiter came with Liam’s food and the conversation shifted to lighter things. They spoke about how Harry was planning on going to University of London to study law, and how Liam was studying engineering. They spoke on how Niall and Louis were just trying to figure their lives out, brainstorming and guessing what they would end up doing. They also discussed meeting up soon so Liam could take him to a great spot in London he’d been to once that would be great for photography, to which Harry accepted enthusiastically. Conversation was easy and Liam seemed like a really decent bloke. Someone Harry would have befriended anyway, had he met him back in Manchester. Harry just liked him a lot. 

A little while later, Niall and Louis came and joined them, both visibly sweating. Harry also noticed how Louis took a seat next to Liam, instead of him. He looked at him suspiciously, but Louis just shrugged his shoulders, and dove straight into making plans with Niall to play some footie next weekend. As the three of them talked, Harry solemnly placed his chin in his palm and absentmindedly stared into space, blocking out their conversation. 

“Harry?” a small and high voice asked, breaking him out of his stupor, and he looked over to see a short brunette girl who had stopped at their booth. Harry blinked a few times, still coming out of his day dream, before fully registering the girl’s identity. 

“Abigail! Wow, it’s so great to see you!” said Harry excitedly, silently but politely motioning for Niall to move so he could greet her properly. He wrapped her into a tight hug as soon as he got around the Irish lad, and then pulled back, holding her at arm’s length. “You look fantastic!” he praised as he enveloped her back into his arms and kissed her on the cheek. “Do you want to join us, Abby?” 

She looked at the other boys nervously. “Oh. Sorry, I’m actually meeting some friends. They should be here soon,” she declined shyly. 

“Well you can sit with us until they get here, right? You guys don’t mind, do you?” Harry addressed the group. Niall nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders with a quick “not at all”, Liam smiled and agreed that it was fine as well, but Louis remained completely silent and almost imperceptibly nodded his head. Harry noticed, but was too annoyed with Louis anyway to mind all that much. Harry motioned for her to sit, asking her what she wanted to drink, and going to the bar to get it.

“-and he told them all they were just jealous because I was the ‘Plaster Princess’.” 

Harry caught only the last of what she had been saying, and he clumsily placed the tray of drinks on the table, taking his seat. “Are you really telling the plaster story?” he asked as he handed Abigail her cocktail. 

She giggled. “I was just explaining how we met. You were the only boy who didn’t laugh at the huge plaster I had to wear for getting hit in the forehead with that dart. I will never forget that,” she said, ignoring Harry’s humble eye roll.

Niall burst out laughing then. “I mean honestly, a dart!” he shouted in between bits of laughter. “That’s gold! I’m sorry, but those odds are just mad!” 

Harry laughed as well. “But you were so tiny and cute with that huge Barbie plaster on your forehead. I’d have been a fool not to let you know,” he said, gazing exaggeratedly dreamily into Abigail’s eyes. She scrunched her nose up in response with an eye roll of her own, and sipped at her beverage. 

Harry shifted his eyes to look at Louis, who pointedly avoided eye contact and stared down at his lap instead.

The conversation broke off then with Liam, Niall, and Louis caught up in their own discussion, probably about football, and Harry and Abigail continuing their reminiscing. 

Every now and then, Louis could detect that Harry was looking at him from the corner of his eye, but he refused to acknowledge him. Just who was this slag, and why did Harry have to treat her like she put the sun in the sky? For goodness sake Louis, calm down, he thought. But he couldn’t help it. Her presence, the way she kept touching Harry’s arm, and the flirty teasing at his hat was infuriating. 

But in time, that couldn’t have come a moment sooner in Louis’ opinion, she finally left to go bother her own friends. She bid them all a quick goodbye, smartly avoiding Louis, but still had the audacity to kiss Harry on the cheek while blubbering some nonsense about seeing him tomorrow. Louis’ fists clenched under the table, and he visibly scowled. The girl left them alone, and Harry trapped Louis with challenging eye contact. 

“Guess we should get going too, Harold,” said Louis flatly, never removing his eyes from Harry’s. 

“I’m ready when you are,” agreed Harry unaffectedly. 

“Alright then, lads,” said Louis getting up. “Today was fun. I’ll ring you about that game next week Nialler, and Payno I expect to see you there,” he said authoritatively. Liam agreed, only mildly confused at Louis’ clipped tone and turned to Harry.

“Here, take my number, yeah? We can go check out that place in London whenever you want to,” Liam offered, and Harry beamed.

“Yeah that would be great, Li. Beats going alone,” he said, pulling his phone out and jotting down the number with a promise to text him, saying his goodbyes to Liam and Niall, and following a seething Louis out to the car. Here we go, he thought worriedly.

\---

But Louis said nothing as they drove, never even glancing in Harry’s direction, knuckles whitening from gripping the steering wheel so hard. He knew Harry was expecting a discussion, but he just didn’t know what to tell him. He would work on opening up to his friends, but these things take time. And what if they weren’t the real thing anyway? What if it wasn’t worth the trouble it would cause? 

After some time, he reached Harry’s street, coming to a stop outside Harry’s house turning the car off. His hands were still gripping the wheel, and Harry sighed loudly, waiting for Louis to start the inevitable conversation. 

Louis’ stress level was at an all-time high, but instead of speaking about the real issues, he redirected all of his emotions into the first thing that came to mind and rounded on Harry.

“Who the hell is Abigail?” Louis suddenly asked still staring straight ahead.

“What!?” Harry blurted, everything he was going to say forgotten. This is not what he expected Louis to say at all. 

Louis swivelled to face Harry, eyes unreadable, but accusing. “That girl that joined us at McGee’s just now obviously. What is she, your ex-girlfriend? I mean for shits sake Harold we just-” Louis blurted out angrily all in one breath. 

“Lou, what, are you kidding me? You’ve gotta calm down,” Harry said. “Abby is one of my best friends. You bloody heard her, we’ve been friends since we were in secondary school. There’s nothing going on between us, nor has there ever, and honestly... I mean… you’re seriously worried about a girl? Louis, we did have sex last night in case you’ve forgotten,” spat Harry, waving his arms dramatically. 

Louis let out a slow breath, this had already gone to shit thanks to him. “Sorry Harry, I just… you guys looked… I mean you two were… sorry,” he mumbled, focusing his attention on his fingernails. He was stalling, and he knew it, but his mind had a raging war going on inside of it.

Harry relaxed in light of everything, the fight in him draining out. “I know. We act like a couple, we get that all the time. You don’t have to worry. But Lou… this morning. Please, what are we going to do about it? And last night?” asked Harry, still dedicated to their necessary talk. 

Louis closed his eyes and took a deep breath, turning to Harry to give him his full focus. “I just woke up and… because of last night...”, he shook his head, unable to continue that way. He took another breath and tried again. “I guess I was just shocked at what happened, and when Stan said he was coming over, I mean he has a spare key, and I just panicked,” he explained.

Harry said nothing, knowing Louis had more to say, which was proven when he continued. “You already know why I lied to Stan about what happened, and our plans. If he had come in, he would’ve taken one look around and known something was up. I can’t deal with that, Harry. I mean… I think it’s just better if nobody knows about this,” he said, and he needed to do something with his hands, so he nervously started fiddling with a string on the end of his shirt. 

Harry pursed his lips and looked straight at Louis with a fiery anger tinged with fear in his eyes. “You regret it, don’t you? You don’t really want to tell your friends. You want to keep it a secret. You wish it didn’t happen, don’t you?” he challenged, coming out as more of a statement than a question. He was livid.

Louis couldn’t handle Harry’s penetrating gaze and he looked out of his window, wringing his hands together. “Yes. No. I don’t know,” he revealed, torn in two. He slowly looked back, bravely facing the hurt he had just caused in his favourite green eyes. “I really don’t know, Harry.” 

Harry sucked in a breath, and didn’t respond at first, giving time to compose himself. He chose his next words carefully. “Louis, you said that you loved me. And I said I loved you. Last night was the first time I…I mean I was really happy. I can’t believe you’re telling me it was a mistake,” he said despairingly, the strength in his voice wavering.

Louis’ heart was breaking at how close to tears Harry sounded. “No, Curly, I… I don’t know. I think we just need to figure things out. I mean, last night… the ice skating and the wine. I think maybe we just kind of let things get ahead of us. I mean I’m not gay,” he tried reasoning, but Harry wasn’t having it.

Harry gave a short emotionless laugh and ran his hands over his face before dropping them, looking to Louis with guarded eyes that were filled with betrayal. 

“You’re right,” he yelled, causing Louis to flinch. “No, you’re absolutely right, Louis Tomlinson. All those late night phone calls were just friendly banter, huh, and the alcohol last night just gave us the ‘wrong idea’. You kissing me at the park was obviously an accident. Your hand just slipped on the grass, isn’t that right Louis? You were probably just gonna head butt me before your Mum knocked on the door, weren’t you? Speaking of that, you probably just told your Mum how good of a laddy lad lad I am. I told my family about my buddy guy pal friend, too, so.... And you weren’t jealous of Abby just now, that was completely normal behavior. What happened to everything you’ve said? What we’ve done? What about you ‘giving up fighting this’? Seems to me you’re fighting it pretty bloody hard. Are you telling me you’ve been full of shit this whole time?”, he paused just to take in a breath before continuing with the finale. “Look, you heart breaking jerk, I’m not ‘gay’ either, but I bloody well meant it when I said I loved you and that I’d always stay with you, and if you didn’t, or if I’m not worth it, then you can just piss right off, and that’s all I have to say to you,” he finished his emotional declaration, tears fully streaming down his face now. 

Louis was stunned speechless. He had basically dismissed their amazing night together, blaming it on alcohol, and invalidated every amazing moment they’d ever shared together, but here Harry was, still saying he loved him. They both stared at each other, neither moving or blinking and their tense breathing, plus Harry’s occasional sniffling, were the only sounds heard in the car. 

When Harry harshly wiped his tears and opened the car door to leave, Louis panicked. “Curly, wait!” Louis begged, voice cracking as he reached for him, but Harry was already out of the car. He closed the door with a little more force than necessary, and leaned down into the window, bearing a sudden fake look of happiness and neutrality on his face. 

“All good, ‘Boobear’. Thanks for yesterday. And last night. Talk soon, yeah?”

Louis winced, but got no chance to reply, because Harry had already turned away and stalked into his house without looking back. Louis sat motionless until he watched Harry’s front door slam, and for a little while after that, too. Now I’ve done it. I’ve gone and lost Harry. Shit. 

 

Fearing Harry would come back out yelling at him to leave if he didn’t, he turned the car on, slowly pulled out onto the street, and drove out of sight. He was gutted. This entire month had been nothing but very confusing and unexpected. He sighed heavily. This was not how he pictured this weekend ending, but then... he had never planned on sleeping with Harry either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I'm back!! Sorry it took so long, hope you enjoy it. And if Instagram didn't lead you here, come say hi @tommo_is_perfect xx


	9. Maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the really long wait... Life just got ahead of me. 
> 
> To my Beta Shannon, you are the voice to my thoughts. thanks a million.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy xx

Chapter 10

 

It had been almost two weeks since Louis had last heard from Harry, two weeks since that miserable day he’d walked away from Louis’ car without even looking back. Louis had thought about calling, even did a few times, but he’d frantically hung up every time. 

He didn’t even have the right to. Not after what he said. He was right though, the consumption of alcohol always leads to poor decisions. In his opinion, they just needed to be level headed about the whole thing, but that was proving to be difficult considering Harry hasn’t texted him even once. The Cheshire boy’s silence made him wonder though… was he just using alcohol as an excuse? Was sleeping with Harry really a mistake? 

~~~

Harry tossed and turned in bed for a painfully long amount of time before eventually giving up and blinking his eyes open. He flipped over onto his back and blankly stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t spoken to Louis since their fight, if he could even call it that. He wanted to reach out, but what was he supposed to say? ‘Hey Louis, sorry for sleeping with you. Want to grab lunch sometime?’

No way was that was going to happen and he groaned defeatedly, slapping his hand on his forehead, replaying every moment of that event with attempted objectivity.

He had been on the verge of tears when he’d walked away from the car. He’d quietly crept in through the kitchen door at the back of the house, hoping no one would notice and hassle him, but of course Gemma had already been sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich. She’d only given one glance to his face to immediately know something was wrong. 

\---

“Haz? My god, what’s wrong? Mum said you were at a friend’s house… did something happen?”

Harry almost broke down then and there from hearing the genuine concern in her voice. They had always been super close, like twins really, despite the four year age gap. They shared every situation and predicament they faced with each other, and this time would be no different. Harry pulled out the chair across from her, and harshly dropped down onto it. He knocked his elbows on the wooden table and held his hands over his face. 

“It’s all so messed up Gems,” he mumbled through his hands. 

Gemma put down her fork and reach across the table to rub his forearm in support. “Harry, what’s happened?” she asked again. 

He took a deep, shuddering breath and removed his hands, letting them drop onto the placemat as he struggled to meet her worried gaze. “I slept with someone last night. And I think it might have been a huge mistake.”

Gemma fought against the loud exclamation she was holding back at the unprecedented news, at a complete loss how to appropriately respond to the confession. “Er… wow Haz, I don’t really know what to say. Were you drunk? Is that why you regret it? Or was it just not how you pictured your first time happening?” she asked, keeping a comforting smile on her face.

Harry heavily sighed, and lowered his gaze to his lap. He didn’t know quite how to put this, but Gemma was his sister after all, and he knew he could tell her anything. He took another deep breath to ground himself and strengthen his resolve, reached out and grabbed both her hands and said, “You don’t understand, Gems. I slept with Louis.” 

Gemma’s jaw dropped in shock, and the deafening silence between them dragged was creating a sound of its own, so Harry rushed to break it. “It just all happened so fast, Gems. I met him at the Black Aces that night on graduation, and then I saw him again at the park the next day and we hung out, and stuff. He’s a great guy, and it just kind of happened. We get on… got on… really well. I don’t know Gems, I’m so confused,” he admitted weakly. 

Gemma squeezed his hands and began to respond slowly, still trying to process all the new information. “Okay so, you met a guy, and started hanging out a lot and then you both got drunk and slept together… did I get it? That’s okay, Haz. But why are you so confused?” she questioned. 

Harry silently stared down at their hands for a few moments before blurting, “I think I might actually love him.” 

Gemma grinned in fond amusement at his nervousness. “Oh, Harry. It always seems like that when you sleep with someone for the first time. Hell, I was convinced I was going to marry Liam. I even brought him home for Christmas, remember? Looking back now, he was such an ass, but he was my first, and we did share some amazing memories that will always stay with me. It gets better, Haz. This dreadful feeling won’t last forever, I promise,” she assured to her pensive brother.

Harry scoffed and shook his head in disagreement. “That’s just it though, Gemma. I think I was in love with him before we even slept together, and I was so sure he felt the same. I mean… he initiated it last night. But then we woke up and it was like last night had never even happened. He said it was a mistake. A mistake, Gemma. Blamed it on the alcohol. Treated me like a one-night stand.” 

“What!” she exclaimed in outrage, “Harry, tell me he didn’t toss you outside barefooted. I swear, just say the word Harry and I will tear him a new one. No one treats my baby brother like that!” 

Harry tightened his hold on her hands and rubbed them in what he hoped was a soothing manner. “Gemma, please calm down. It wasn’t like that at all. It was how we discussed it just now, when he dropped me off,” he explained calmly. “I think we’re both just a little confused at the whole situation. Well, him more than me, really.” 

Gemma sighed and catalogued Harry’s words thoughtfully. “Well I certainly don’t know the entire story. You may be right, Haz,” she hypothesized. “But if you want my advice, I would leave it be and let him come to you. He obviously needs to get his shit together, and I don’t want you taking the flak for it.”

\---

Gemma was right of course, he knew that. She bloody always was. So he had obediently taken her advice and refrained from texting or calling Louis, but to his surprise, and offense, Louis had done exactly the same. 

Harry wasn’t sure how to take Louis’ silence, but it did sting a bit so he tried to fill his days and mind with other distracting things, like hanging out with Abigail and Ed. If he wasn’t having jamming sessions with Ed and helping him write music, he was going bowling with Abi or working on his photography for his Tumblr blog. It was almost perfect, and thoughts of Louis gradually only happened a few times a day. Not good, but progress at least, right?

Harry was going to meet Abigail in a couple of hours and they were going to travel to London for the day to check out some flats since she was starting university soon, and needed her own place. Harry had been texting Liam back and forth for a while and asked if he wouldn’t mind showing them around since he was living in London and knew all the great places, and luckily he agreed. 

As Harry stretched his limbs and rolled out of bed to get to the bathroom, he thought about Abigail. She was inarguably wonderful and pleasant, they always got on so well. She wasn’t currently dating anyone, having said she didn’t have the time to waste on lame blokes, and he wondered if he might be an exception. 

His mum already loved her, and he was a hit with her family as well, so that’s two finalities already out of the way. It would be easy. Maybe I should ask her out, he thought, weighing his options. But I really gotta think about it. 

He got out the shower soon after he’d jumped in and wrapped a towel around his waist, standing in front of his closet trying to decide what to wear. Today might be the day where he forgets about Louis altogether. Well… starting now, of course.

He was halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” he called as he opened the door and to his delight, he found a grinning Abigail holding up a bag of what smelled like his favourite blueberry muffins from the bakery. “Abi!” he exclaimed in glee, ushering her inside and away from the cold. “I thought I was picking you up,” he mused as he pulled her into a hug.

“I know sorry for intruding, but I was up early and figured we could have breakfast together. It’s your favourite, if I’m not mistaken,” she happily remarked, handing him the bag.

“Smells heavenly,” he replied and smiled back. “Come on, fam’s in the kitchen already.”

Anne and Gemma were pleased to see Abigail as per usual, and they all sat around the table and had a somewhat loud breakfast of eggs, bacon, and muffins. When Harry rose to get another cup of tea, he glanced back to witness the interaction at the table and smiled. Abigail fit so perfectly in his family already. With thoughts of Louis pushed firmly and forcefully into the back of his mind, he made the decision to ask Abi out on a date someday soon. Maybe even today.

~~~

It was exactly eight in the morning when Louis was unfortunately shaken awake by a much too happy Liam. “Lou, wake up, we have a problem,” Liam whined, never stopping his violent maneuvers on Louis’ poor tired form.

“Is the problem that you’re waking me up at this ungodly hour on a bloody Saturday morning?” Louis gritted through his teeth, voice muffled by the pillow. “‘Cuz that does seem like a huge sodding problem.”

Louis had graciously been given the week off from work, so he’d decided to drive to London to spend much needed time with Niall and Liam. He’d been crashing on their sofa, nursing quite a few hangovers all week, thanks to Niall. This morning was no different. They had been out last night, club hopping and had only gotten back to the flat around four in the morning.

“No. I… have an interview to get to,” Liam replied, taking a seat on the couch adjacent to Louis. 

Louis slowly sat up, and rubbed his heavy eyes. “Still failing to see the problem here, Payno,” he croaked sleepily.

 

“Okay, fine. I’m supposed to meet Harry in a few hours to give him a bit of a tour of London, but my interview is at ten a.m., and I don’t know how long it will take. I completely forgot about it, and Harry’s probably already on his way.”

 

Louis froze at the mention of Harry’s name. Damn that Payno. He had spent weeks trying, usually failing, to forget about him. Staying with Liam and Niall had certainly helped him escape the memories in his flat, but one mention of Harry brought all of it back. He groaned deep in his throat and flopped face first into the couch cushion. “Why can’t Niall do it?” he asked, barely audible.

“He’s working this weekend. Took off already if the silence wasn’t clear enough for you. Please Louis. I promised Harry. You know London almost as well as I do, and Harry already has most of addresses so you’ve just got to find the places. But can you meet him at Landover park?” Liam pleaded.

 

Louis sighed and sat back up, wrapping the blanket further around him. He thought about arguing with Liam, and defying this outrageous request, but defeatedly found didn’t have the energy to. “Fine. I’ll do it, but you have to make me a cuppa and some greasy bacon and eggs, that’s an order.”

 

Liam shot him his most adorable and disarming smile, and dived in to hug Louis in gratitude. “Thanks, Lou. You’re the best.” 

Louis smiled tightly as he hugged him back. This was not good. “Alright, alright, Payno. Get to cookin’, but tea first.”

~ ~ ~

Louis drove sluggishly through the rain, terrified, annoyed, and slightly elated at the prospect of seeing Harry again. He still had no idea what his feelings for Harry really were, but at least they weren’t as strong and demanding anymore. Louis William Tomlinson was definitely, seriously, genuinely, absolutely NOT GAY. 

All those random girls at the clubs last night could back that up. Still, he couldn’t argue with the thoughts running through his mind now. He murdered the butterflies in his stomach, and pushed his secret giddiness away. He would see Harry, they would be polite, and everything would be fine, and that’s that. 

Maybe he would even take him to that little café near Liam’s place. It was a hidden gem, and he was sure Harry would positively love it. No, he berated, furiously shaking his head, You’re straight, Louis. Knock this shit off! he fiercely chided at himself as he pulled up next to a car that he assumed was Harry’s, and switched the engine off. He sat for a few seconds, avidly trying to compose himself and get his ducks in a row. 

When he decided he was as ready as he’ll ever be, he jumped out the car, relieved from his choice to wear a beanie today so his hair didn’t get soaked. He shut his car door, and turned to head into the park when he saw Harry and a girl huddled together under an umbrella, giggling like six year old girls. Abigail. Louis was sure of it. Great. Just what he needed.  
“Louis?” Harry asked in trepid surprise. The silky deep voice took a few seconds to resonate with Louis before he was able to respond. He hadn’t even noticed that the pair had turned around and were regarding him with confusion. He also hadn’t noticed he was getting a little wetter than he liked.

 

“… Hi,” he mumbled awkwardly as he cleared his throat and approached them.

 

“What are you doing here?” Harry inquired, who still couldn’t believe that Louis was standing in front of him after so long. Looking all sorts of adorable in jeans and a black jumper, might he add. Oh be still heart he thought.

“Er… Liam couldn’t make it, so he asked me to show you guys around. It’s Abigail, isn’t it?” Louis rushed, trying to at least seem interested and inclusive in the slightest. 

“Yeah. Hi,” she said shyly, regarding Louis with a strange expression as he finally reached the pair. She huddled closer to Harry on instinct, much to Louis’ displeasure and asked, “Are we at the right place? The advert said Landover Park.” 

“Yeah, this is the place. Shall we go inside? I’m starting to drip,” Louis replied flatly. He couldn’t wait to get this day over with. Abigail took the lead, her fingers lightly intertwining with Harry’s as she pulled him along. He turned to gaze at Louis who had pulled out his phone and was about to text Liam about how dearly the lad would pay for this, and called out to get his attention. 

“Lou?” Harry practically squeaked from his nerves, oblivious to anything else but the Yorkshire lad’s answer. Louis looked over from his screen and smiled, about to respond when his eyes drifted to Harry’s fingers that were disgustingly linked with Abigail’s. His smile fell flat and he icily met Harry’s eyes, face schooled to be expressionless. 

“Yeah?” he deadpanned, looking back to his phone when it buzzed “... Ah. Liam said it’s flat number ten, guess we’ll just take the stairs then.” 

Harry was admittedly confused, even a little hurt that Louis barely acknowledged his presence, but he recalled that Louis was the one who shut him out first. Louis was the one who dismissed their night together. Fine, Harry thought, I’ll let him come to me just like Gemma said. He tightened his grip on Abigail’s tiny fingers, and pulled her in closer as they climbed the rickety stairs. They stopped at the mentioned door and Abigail knocked excitedly. 

As they waited, Harry couldn’t keep his gaze from Louis who standing a laughable further distance away, and he wished more than anything that Louis would just look at him. Harry ripped his eyes away as the door opened and a lanky Arabian looking guy popped his head out into the hallway. “Oi. You must be Harry and Abigail. Liam said you were coming over.” 

 

“Zayn!” Louis exclaimed before Harry and Abigail could even reply, shoving between them to get to the boy. “What are you doing here, mate? I thought you moved back home to Bradford.” 

Zayn pulled him into a tight hug and ushered the group inside before he answered. “Has it really been that long since I saw you?” he asked in disbelief. His gaze fell on Harry and Abigail’s awkward expressions and realised an explanation was probably in order. “Louis and I met through Liam and Niall sometime last year. Liam and I were interns together, and I was moving back home when I met this mad crazy tosser,” he explained as he playfully yanked Louis’ beanie off his head. “But you’re not here to hear that story. Take your time and have a look around. It’s a great flat, and the neighbours aren’t noisy at all. Warm in the winter and cool in the summer, blahblah,” he trailed off as Abigail walked across the lounge to peer out the window. “Haz, this place is perfect,” she announced approvingly.

 

Harry tore his eyes away from Louis for the thousandth time, and walked over to Abigail, looking out the window as well. It was definitely a great view, but all he wanted to see was Louis. “You haven’t even looked around, Abi,” he said wisely, chuckling at her immediate enthusiasm. “Isn’t it a bit too spacious for you?” he added set his arm across her shoulders. 

She turned to face him, eyes shining with a presumptuous glint. “But it would be perfect for the both of us,” she stated suggestively .

 

Harry was floored. He was honestly not expecting this at all, even though maybe he should have. It was additionally surprising because he had planned to ask her out this exact day. Unfortunately for him, the second he met Louis’ eyes, all the feelings for him came rushing back to the forefront. Now he really had no idea what to do.

~~~

Louis and Zayn were animatedly catching up in the kitchen, across the open floor plan lounge. Louis couldn’t help occasionally glancing over at the pesky pair that were standing much too close together, their conversation imperceptible from his distance. Why did the way Harry’s arm so easily encircled her drive him to the point of lunacy? And how did her hand on his chest make him want to break a lamp? But more importantly, why did he care?

Against his tries, his mind flooded with unwelcome suspicions and fears. Was this his girlfriend now, or what? Did he forget their night so easily? Was Louis truly so easily brushed aside? Louis technically only had himself to blame if he’s honest. He was the one who’d told Harry it meant nothing, but he figured they both knew it was a lie. Perhaps it wasn’t so fair to assume that. 

 

“Lou?” Zayn said again, thankfully interrupting Louis’ morbid thoughts. 

 

Louis flinched when he realized it wasn’t the first time his name had been uttered in this span of time and he promptly turned back to face Zayn, “Sorry, what did you say?”

 

“I asked if you wanted to go out tonight,” Zayn replied easily. He followed Louis’ ever wandering gaze, and discovered it led straight to the pair in the other room. He tilted his head in interest when he found Harry was staring directly at Louis, who looked away as soon as their eyes met. “Is there… something going on between you two? Did you used to date Abigail or something?” 

 

“What? No,” said Louis defensively, “I just haven’t seen Harry in a while,” he mumbled toward the ground.

“YES!” shouted Abigail suddenly, causing Louis and Zayn to look over in alarm. She practically launched herself into Harry, who caught her and twirled her around. 

“I guess that means you’re taking the flat,” Zayn assumed, walking over to the two of them to hash out the details. Louis followed behind slowly, glaring at Harry and festering vicious and abrasive comments in his head.

 

“Yes, we are,” Abigail said excitedly, if almost dreamily. 

“Both of you, then?” Zayn confirmed, glancing from Abigail to Harry.

 

“Yeah, us two. Harry’s moving in with me!” she declared, kissing Harry’s cheek.

 

Louis feared he might actually faint. Harry was going to live with Abigail? As far he could tell, it was a one-bedroom flat. Which could really only mean one thing, and he felt sick. He shuffled to the couch and collapsed onto the cushions while the other three talked logistics. Maybe it had been minutes, or seconds, sodding hours, Louis had no idea, but he felt a hand on his back as the owner sat down next to him, far more gracefully than he did.

 

“Boo bear, you alright?” Harry asked softly, almost a whisper. 

 

Louis looked up from his faceplant on the couch, and his whole body immediately relaxed when he met those emerald eyes. He exhaled slowly before fretfully asking, “Are you two…?”

 

“Lou, it’s not what you think…” Harry began slowly.

 

Louis was about to ask Harry not to patronize him, to just admit whatever Louis was imagining, when he changed his mind and stopped himself. He had pushed Harry away. He had told him that they needed to think things through. He had convinced himself that he was straight, and none of this was Harry’s fault.

 

“It’s alright, Harold. No need for explanations. You certainly don’t owe me anything,” he said flatly as the other two joined them. “So are you two sure this is the place you want? From what Liam mentioned, your list of flats seemed quite long,” Louis asked, spearing Abigail with his gaze.

“Yes, this is it. I’m sure of it. I mean, we’re sure of it,” she corrected rapidly, chin in palm, grinning at Harry dazedly. Harry kindly returned a smile before fixing his attention back to Louis, who had gotten up and was stretching his arms. 

 

“I guess my work here is done, then. Gonna head home,” Louis announced through a tired yawn.

 

“What about drinks?” Zayn protested. “I haven’t seen you in months and I’m moving back in a week.” 

 

“Drinks sounds good to me, too,” Harry said cheerfully. “Could Abi and I tag along as well? Celebrate finding a place, and that.”

At that particular moment, Abigail’s phone rang and she quickly walked to the bedroom to take it. Louis looked at Zayn and shrugged helplessly. “Drinks it is then, but I’m still hungover from last night,” he noted behind a laugh.

 

As Zayn and Louis were debating which location to go to, Abigail came back into the room with an apologetic expression. “Haz, I’m sorry but something’s come up at home, and I’ve got to head back,” she informed.

Harry gave her a concerned and slightly disappointed look. “Is everything alright, love?”

 

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’ve just got to get back,” she said as she searched her bag for her keys. “Maybe we could do drinks some other time.”

“Abi…” said Harry as he approached her, “I know we planned on spending the day together, but would you mind terribly if maybe I stayed behind?” he asked as he placed both hands on her arms and stooped down so they were at the same eye level. “I haven’t seen Louis in a while, and I would like to catch up.” 

At the mention of his name, Louis’ head popped up and he stared at them suspiciously. Harry looked back to meet his gaze and gave a smile that lit up his eyes. Meanwhile, Abigail looked at Harry and Louis in careful calculation.  
“Um… sure,” she allowed, tugging at Harry’s chin so he faced her again. “We need to talk later though, okay?” 

 

“Alright,” he replied softly. “I’ll walk you down.” He snaked an arm around her waist and headed for the door.

 

“We’ll head out, too,” said Zayn. “Alright if we take your car, Tommo?” he asked as he stood up.

 

“Whatever’s clever,” Louis replied as he followed Harry and Abigail out the door.

 

Harry and Abigail were so close together, Louis couldn’t tell where Harry ended and Abigail started and it made him livid. The way she clung to him, the way Harry’s head leaned in towards her, it was just deplorable. The tall lad opened her car door, leaning in and whispering something in her ear, after which they both turned to look at Louis and smiled, leaving Louis feeling very self conscious. 

After she had driven off, the three boys got into Louis’ car with Harry riding shotgun, and headed off to O’Malley’s a few blocks away.

 

~~~

They had just finished their second round of drinks when Louis declared that he was done for the day. Liam came in then, and Louis’ excitement was clearly visible. “Lads, lads, lads! Great news! I got the job!” he announced joyfully, forgetting how to properly breathe. 

They all cheered in appraisal and gave him proud pats him on the back as he sat down. Louis got up to fetch a round of celebratory drinks, and he soon returned with three glasses, catching the end of Harry’s sentence.

“-Yeah, we’re moving in as soon as we can. Abi wants to get a jumpstart on university life.” 

 

Liam looked at Harry dumbfoundedly as he passed a glass to Zayn and took one for himself. “What do you mean ‘we’? Are you guys going to be living together?” he asked.

 

“Yup. Kind of just happened,” he responded as he took his glass. Harry looked over at Louis and noticed he was brewless, and he motioned to him with a flourished wave of his hand “Where’s your beer?” he questioned. 

 

“Told you lads I was done for the day, didn’t I? Besides, I’m driving meself back home, and this hangover has got me pretty bad. Don’t wanna chance it,” he explained.

“But we’re celebrating, Tommo,” Liam pressed disappointedly.

 

“Oh, none of that. We can celebrate again tomorrow with Nialler. Payno, would you mind taking Zayn home and Harry to the tube station? We came with my car,” he nonchalantly asked, internally begging, as he got up to leave.

 

“Wait, I’ll come with you,” shot Harry instantly as he scooted out of the booth. 

 

“No, that’s alright. Sit and finish your drink, Harold. I don’t want to rush you,” Louis excused. Honestly, he just had to get away from Harry or he was going to go crazy, what sense was there in him tagging along?

 

“It’s fine Lou, I’ll come with. I need to head home anyway,” he pleasantly but tensely argued, staring at Louis until he nodded his assent. Harry gave his goodbyes to Zayn and Liam, congratulating Liam once more and promising to hang out again soon, and then he followed Louis outside.

Louis morbidly dreaded this. Being alone with Harry, christ. He didn’t trust himself at all. Harry looked so exquisite, he smelled intoxicating, everything about this boy was perfectly seraphic. So amazing that he made Louis’ desperate mental proclamations and conclusions of being straight dissipate pitifully. If Louis could just last the ten minute drive to the nearest tube station, things might be alright. All he had to do was focus on the road ahead, keep from breathing in too deeply, and most importantly, not look at Harry.

If he did, all his defences would collapse, he was sure. That’s how it’s happened every single other time to date. The drive was thankfully silent and he smiled triumphantly as he made it to the tube station without that awkward conversation he was sure they were going to have. He pulled into a parking spot and waited for Harry to exit the car. And waited some more. And kept waiting…

“So, is this how it’s going to be from now on, huh? You barely acknowledging my presence and us acting as if that other night never happened?” Harry softly accused, cutting the the silence between them as he turned in his seat. 

Louis’ throat constricted, and he didn’t respond. His hands dropped from the steering wheel onto his lap and he fidgeted nervously, still working out what to say. 

After a few beats, Harry spoke again. “Boobear, look at me, please,” he begged.

 

The desperation in Harry’s voice broke through Louis internal squabbling and he looked straight into Harry’s eyes. The boy noticeably exhaled as if he had been holding in his breath all this time. “I… I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what you expect me to say, Harry,” he whispered to the curly haired lad.

 

“Anything, Lou. Say anything… at least something,” Harry suggested, reaching out to grip Louis’ knee.

Louis froze at the sudden contact. Harry touching him was almost more than he could take. He gathered his courage and turned in his seat, letting it all out. “Say what, Harold? That the night we spent together was the best time of my life? That maybe I haven’t stopped thinking about you since then? That maybe I’m starting to wonder if I really do love you, if I am in love with you? But what does it matter now? I pushed you away. I told you to forget about it, and I never called again…,” he sighed and ran his hand over his face before continuing, “Now you’re with Abigail. You guys are moving in together and I don’t want to come between that. I’m happy that you’re happy. You deserve all the happiness in the world. I’m a right mess, and I’m still trying to figure things out,” he finished, refusing to look into Harry’s eyes again.

Harry was completely blindsided. He grabbed both of Louis’ hands and pulled them into his lap. “Oh, Lou,” he started, “Why didn’t you say all of this before? I love you, you know that. Abi and I-”  
“Harry,” Louis cut him off and pulled his hands back reluctantly. “You don’t owe me an explanation. She seems wonderful, and I’m glad you have someone good like that. You deserve it.”

“Lou, you don’t get it. We’re not-“ Harry tried to explain but Louis cut him off again.

“I’m still figuring shit out and working on myself. If I ever succeed, that is. Nothing’s changed.”

 

At that last word, all of Harry’s emotional walls shot up again. This was déjà vu at its finest, and he was not about to be rejected again. “Fine. Can we at least go back to being friends again? I miss us hanging out.” 

 

Louis smiled back in spite of himself, but of course the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sure. I’ve missed it too. I’ll call you, yeah?” he said shortly.

 

“Right,” Harry skeptically replied as he climbed out of the car. He was about to close the door when he had a thought and leaned in to meet Louis’ gaze again. “Hey Lou, I… I hope you figure things out,” he quipped, shutting the door and strutting into the station.

Louis watched him until Harry disappeared through the station doors before he backed up and drove away. He felt like he had accomplished so much and absolutely nothing at the same time. He had admitted his feelings for Harry, and dismissed them in the same breath. “You’re such a wanker, Louis-,” he vocally chided himself, “-and now you’ve lost Harry again.”

Harry pulled out his phone and scrolled through his twitter, stopping when he found the picture of Louis cooking in his kitchen. He leaned back on the bench and smiled bittersweetly at the photo. Louis had finally admitted it; said he was maybe in love with him. Sure, he had dismissed it immediately by saying nothing had changed, but Harry held onto hope. This was a big progression in the dynamic.

Plus, all those stolen glances from Louis at the apartment and the boy’s envious scowl every time Abi leaned too close or touched Harry made the truth undoubtedly clear. 

Louis was in love with him. He just needed someone to help him realise and accept it, and Harry was determined to be that person. And maybe, just maybe, Abigail could help too...


	10. quiffs and bathtub discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis was sitting in the bathtub, legs folded with his arms encircling them, staring at his knees. Harry walked over, and climbed into the bathtub too, mirroring Louis’ pose so that they were now on opposite ends, facing each other. They sat there motionless, Louis staring at his knees and Harry watching him.

Chapter 11

Harry was walking home from the station while his mind was nonstop reeling from Louis’ declaration of love. He walked in through the front door just as his pocket vibrated from a text. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and smiled at the screen, because it was from Louis.

Hey Haz. Was brilliant seeing you today. The lads and I wanna go out tomorrow night, hope you can come along.

-L 

Harry was just about to type a reply when Gemma suddenly called his name from the kitchen. He tore the phone away from his face and walked through the archway to the kitchen, heart almost stopping when he discovered Abi sitting at the counter with Gemma, drinking tea like everything was normal. 

“Abi, what are you doing here?” he asked as he pulled out a chair and sat down, placing his phone on the table. “Is everything alright at home?” 

“Yeah, everything is great, but...er. We were supposed to hang out, remember? I wasn’t sure what time you were coming back so I figured I would hang out with Gems in the meantime,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, and a nervous smile on her face.

“I guess I’ll leave you two roomies to it, then,” Gemma said with a smirk as she got up and ruffled Harry’s hair on her way out.

“You boys have fun?” Abi asked as she hopped off the counter and took a seat next to Harry. Once seated, she took a glance at Harry’s phone screen because it was still on. “Is that a text from Louis?” she asked slowly.

“Uh… Yeah,” Harry stammered, quickly snatching the phone in his hand and locking it. “He wants to hang out tomorrow.”

“Sounds fun,” she responded semi solemnly.

Harry looked at her profile a little guiltily and tried to lighten the mood. “I don’t know, it might be pretty boring,” he teased, releasing a tense breath when she chuckled. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Us moving in together. I know I just sprung it on you like that, and I was hoping we could maybe discuss it a little more extensively?” she suggested, still looking at Harry warily from the phone incident.

Harry nodded his head and played with his lip in thought. “Yeah, I definitely think it would be a good idea to talk logistics. Especially since it’s only a one bedroom flat.”  
“Listen Haz, I mean I don’t… I didn’t think… I don’t expect anything from you, you know. And it doesn’t have to stay a one-bedroom flat, we can change it and make it our own. It would just mean a lot to me if we started this new stage of our lives together equally. I mean you were going to move to London, anyway. I just thought…” she trailed off, too nervous to continue.

“Hey,” he said comfortingly, reaching out to hold her arm for support. “I totally agree… although there is one thing…” he corrected, removing his hand and interlocking his fingers in his lap instead.

“What is it?” she asked in trepidation

“Well, I was planning on asking you out tonight, like on a proper date, but I had no idea that today would turn out like this.”

Abigail was speechless from the confession. Did Harry even know what he was saying? Did he have any idea what they would be getting themselves into? “Um…what do you… I mean… Why?” she stuttered anxiously.

Harry was visibly nervous as well, silently staring down at his hands and frantically attempting to gather his jumbled thoughts. “Have you never wondered what it would be like, Abi? I mean, we’ve practically known each other our entire lives, and we get on so well. People already automatically assume we’re together when they see us,” he reasoned as he unlocked his fingers and ran a shaky hand through his long curls.

“I mean... yeah, I have thought about it a few times, Haz. Of course I have. But what if that’s the wrong decision? What if we mess everything up that we have now? You’re my best friend, I can’t lose you over something like that,” she replied softly, taking her lower lip between her teeth and biting at it to have something to do.

“I’ve wondered about that too,” he seconded, crossing his arms and looking into her eyes. “I also said to myself that I should go for it regardless.”  
“Okay, but you said you were going to ask me out today and you didn’t. What changed that? Was it because I asked you to move in with me?” she guessed, looking at him imploringly.

“No, it wasn’t that at all,” he quickly assured, “Well, kind of... But mostly because I didn’t expect to see Louis.” 

“Louis! I knew it had something to with him!” she exclaimed, raising Harry’s heartbeat from the accusation.

“How do you mean?” Harry asked nonchalantly, raising his eyebrows in an attempt to appear neutral. Didn’t work too well though, because he then jumped out of his seat and started pacing around the room, arms tightly crossed at his chest. Are my feelings really that obvious? he thought hopelessly.

“Well, I’ve known you forever, Haz. And I’ve never once seen you look at anyone that way… the way you look at him,” Abi said softly as she stood up to join him. “It’s almost as if he… Harry are you in love with him?” she bravely asked, almost already knowing the answer.

Harry froze in his spot with his back to Abi, and a few beats passed before he finally said, “Yes.”

Abigail squeezed her eyes shut in defeat before shaking the selfish thoughts out of her and mind and closing the distance between them, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his back. “Harry, that’s great. Really. I mean, he clearly loves you too. Every time he looked at us, I could practically feel his hatred for me stabbing into my throat,” she noted with a breathy chuckle.

“He doesn’t hate you,” he countered, not actually confident that was the truth, “He does hate the idea of us being together though, because that’s what he thinks we are - a couple.”

“And I certainly didn’t make things any easier by announcing that we were going to be living together... Yikes, me and my brilliant ideas. Just horrible timing. Harry, I’m sorry,” she whined, feeling extremely contrite about causing problems.

Harry turned to face her and took her hands in his, making sure she was looking into his eyes. “Abi, it’s not your fault at all. It’s technically his. He’s ‘still figuring things out’... he even tried to tell me that he’s straight and that nothing could ever change that,” Harry said with a noteworthy roll of his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s obviously a lie. Haz, the electricity between you two is tangible; everyone in a kilometre radius feels it.”

“I know... I just wish I could get Louis to see that. Which is why I need a favour from you.”

“Of course. Anything,” she replied genuinely.

Harry seemed to ponder his next words carefully, and then took a deep breath to let it out. “Can we pretend to be dating?” he asked unsurely. It was a lot to ask, but he had a pretty good idea.

“What?” she deadpanned.

“Well considering how much he hates the idea of us as a couple… Honestly, I think seeing us together is the only reason he even told me that he’s in love with me. So I think that if he saw us together more often, he would maybe get closer to figuring things out? I don’t know, but he’s stuck in the middle, and maybe this could help steer him in the right direction. You and I wouldn’t have to do anything of course, just be ourselves. And not completely refute the assumptions people make,” Harry pleaded enthusiastically.

Abigail said nothing at first and mulled over everything Harry had said, thinking of all the possibilities and outcomes it could bring. 

“But if you’re not comfortable with this, we don’t have to do it, love,” he assured as he rubbed her arms.

“No…,” she said slowly, “I actually quite like this idea. Playing matchmaker.” She laughed and clapped her hands together engagingly. “I think it’s brilliant, Haz. Might just be exactly what he needs! I have another idea, too - you might not like it though,” she giggled mischievously.

“What are you thinking?”

“A haircut…,” she said cautiously.

“A haircut?!” he exclaimed, eyes wide with horror. “Why? I don’t get it! I don’t want to get a haircut.”

“Harry, calm down. You don’t have to do it. It’s just a suggestion. While your curls do make you pretty irresistible, a change might also be beneficial. Give yourself a new look for a new chapter, and all that. And quite possibly completely disarm Louis,” she said as she grabbed his chin and looked straight into his eyes. “Like I said, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. The decision is totally yours.”

Harry walked back to the table and took a seat as he thought about it as neutrally as he could. He hadn’t cut his hair in well over a year. He absolutely loved his hair, it was part of his look. He was always known as the curly lad. But maybe Abigail was right. Maybe a new look is what he needed. A facelift. A new city, a new Harry. He nodded to himself and looked up at Abigail, who hadn’t moved from her spot in fear that she had offended him, and grinned in acceptance. “Let’s do it,” he agreed, Abi clapping in response. “Tomorrow.” 

He grabbed his phone from the table and finally punched in his reply to Louis, 

Sure, sounds fun. Let me know when and where.

-H

~~~

The boys were currently at Niall and Liam’s place, celebrating Liam’s new job. They had all decided on a having a barbecue, and Liam having declared himself the master chef, he was outside busying himself with the meat. Louis was playing bartender in the kitchen, pouring a round of tequila shots, when the blaring doorbell rang. That would be Harry, Louis thought excitedly, setting the bottle down and trying to quickly compose himself. 

Incidentally, Niall came bounding down the stairs at that exact moment and went to the door instead. “Harry!” he exclaimed much too loudly when he caught sight of the lad, “What have you done with your hair, mate? Nevermind that, oi, you brought whiskey and... salad! Weird combination, but okay. Come on in!” 

Louis could hear Harry uttering a soft “thank you” as he stepped in, and the second Harry came into view, Louis felt his knees grow weak. Harry had cut his hair. Harry had cut his hair. His hair. The unprecedented turn of events seemed to put Louis in a trance until Harry was right in front of him.

“Louis?” Harry questioned, looking at him a bit unsurely. 

Louis snapped out of it at the mention of his name and smiled back. “Hey Harry.”

The Yorkshire lad was about to make a joke out of Harry’s new haircut, like how it was similar to his own, which isn’t a good thing, when he saw a flurry of long brown hair and dainty fingers fixing Harry’s hair. Abigail, Louis inwardly groaned like a curse.

“Haz, your quiff is all over the place,” she giggled, trying to fix it to the best of her ability. Harry tore his eyes away from Louis and tried to help Abigail, both of them obnoxiously smiling at each other. 

This is going to be a long night, Louis mentally complained as he resolutely downed another shot.

“That looks good, Lou. Could you maybe pour one for Abi and I?” Harry asked, shining his dimples at Louis.

“Oi, same!” Zayn chimed, having just come down the stairs clad in grey joggers and a white t-shirt.   
“Oh, hey Harry, Abi. Brilliant to see you two again.” 

The black haired lad pulled Harry and Abi into a friendly hug, reaching over the counter to blindly grab a shot glass while they did the exact same.

“To a great night! And new friends!” Zayn cheered to the inclusion of the room, downing their alcohol when Liam walked in.

“So the drinking started without the special guest. I might have known with you guys,” Liam chuckled fondly, “Harry! Great to see you again, mate... and with a new haircut. It’s Abigail isn’t it?” he addressed the girl at Harry’s side, smiling when she nodded. “Nice to see you again, too.”

“Zayn said it would be okay if came along,” she said shyly as she accepted Liam’s hug, “I just had a few boxes to bring in, and Harry suggested we just stay over. And congratulations on the job, by the way, that’s really fantastic!”

“Yeah, it’s totally okay with me. And thank you, that’s kind of you. I can’t wait,” Liam replied, warmly smiling back.

“Alright, now that everyone has done their greetings, can we eat? Liam, I’m starving!” Niall torturously groaned around a mouthful of crisps.

“We’ve still got like half an hour mate,” Liam said incredulously. “You eat so bloody much, Niall. I’m also on my own, so you have to wait extra long. Unless someone wants to help, of course.”

“I’ll help,” Zayn helpfully offered, following Liam to the small garden outside.

“Let’s play charades!” Niall suggested, looking around the room at Harry, Abigail, and Louis who were still standing at the counter awkwardly. When no one had any complaints, Niall raced up the stairs to retrieve a notebook as the other three gathered around the living room, drinks in hand. 

Louis made the conscious and intentional effort to sit as far from the couple as possible and chose the only single seated couch to plop down into. The other two opted for a single seater as well, and Abi was pulled down onto his lap, annoyingly giggling at something he whispered into her ear. 

Louis took a long and harsh swig of his drink; he was going to need to get absolutely pissed if he had to put up with the two of them all bloody night. Why did Harry even bring her? he grumbled in agitation. It was meant to be a lads’ night, not a lads and one aggravating little princess’ night, and why-oh-why did they have to sit so close together like that? Louis was getting more furious by the second. 

Niall broke his murderous train of thought when he walked in with the notebook. The Irish lad took one look at Harry and Abigail, and then turned to Louis. “Guess it’s you and me, Lou.”

After almost an hour of crazy explanations and anxious shouting, Abigail and Harry were declared the winners, much to Louis’ disappointment. He flopped down on the couch in defeat after failing to properly portray his three worded phrase. Great, he thought cynically, looking over at Harry and Abigail animatedly blabbing to each other. Guess losing Harry isn’t the only thing I’m capable of losing. 

Niall got up to get more snacks just as the sliding door opened and Liam and Zayn walked back in, each with a tray of food, boisterously laughing about something.

“Well it’s about time, aye? Foods ready!” Niall shouted to the rest of the house from the kitchen.  
“Niall, how can you still be hungry? You haven’t even stopped eating once,.” Louis teased as he jogged up to join them at the table.

“Can I just use the restroom for a moment?” Abigail asked, standing up, moving her arms in a way that signaled she didn’t know where it was.

“Sure, just up the stairs, second door on your left,” Liam informed, pointing at the staircase. Abigail grinned and grabbed her handbag, quietly walking up the stairs to discover the room described.

Harry sauntered up and joined Louis at the counter. “It’s nice to see you again,” he murmured as he collected a bowl of salad and carried it to the table, deliberately brushing his arm against Louis’ when he turned. 

Louis sharply inhaled at Harry’s touch. This boy is going to ruin me tonight, he thought in defeat.

Abigail came back down the stairs as all the boys sat down at the table. “This place is huge,” she gushed approvingly as she took a seat unreasonably close to Harry, “I absolutely love it!”

“We never would’ve been able to afford it if Liam’s Dad hadn’t bought it,” Niall noted, piling sausages and potatoes onto his plate in huge mounds.

“Your Dad bought this place?” Abi asked in awe, turning to Liam with an impressed look on her face. “It must have cost a fortune.”

“Buying and selling real estate is kind of like my Dad’s thing,” Liam informed nonchalantly, passing her the salad bowl. 

She filled her plate, and turned to address Harry. “Want some, Haz?”

“Of course!” he exclaimed, dumping an insane amount on his plate. He motionlessly held the bowl in his hand and looked across the table at Louis inquisitively. “Salad, Lou?” he asked softly.

Louis stared at him expressionlessly as he took a large bite of his hotdog. “No thanks,” he dismissed coldly, the phrase muffled from a mouthful of food.

Disappointed and a little offended, Harry quietly set the bowl down in-between them.

“Louis here doesn’t fancy his greens too much. Really any vegetable for that matter,” Liam mentioned from the other end of the table to break the tangible tension that had ensued.

“Quite finished, Liam?” Louis sassed, picking a piece of lettuce out of the bowl and throwing it at him.

“Oi! We don’t play with food,” Niall shouted, already on his second hotdog. “Food is to be appreciated, you tossers.”

After a few more hours of engaging conversation and severe overeating, Liam and Zayn announced that since they had cooked, they were not cleaning up, and they both quickly retreated to the lounge to watch some telly. 

Niall told the remaining company that he would take over clearing the table off, but he wouldn’t wash the dishes either. Abigail offered to do the job nobody wanted, but Harry shooed her to the lounge with a wink, subtly inclining his head toward Louis who was standing at the sink. She smirked mischievously and obliged without a single word. 

Once Niall had left the adjacent dining room, Harry walked over to the sink with a precarious stack of plates. “I’ll do the washing, and you can dry?” he asked hopefully.

“Sure” Louis said simply, stepping aside so Harry could have some room. He grabbed the dish towel from the counter and lightly flicked it at Harry, “So, what’s with the new haircut?” he asked.

Harry pursed his lips as he thought of a reply. “Abi and I thought it was time for a change. New town and whatnot.” 

Louis raised his eyebrows, his mouth set in a completely flat line. “I see,” he said uninterestedly, voice devoid of emotion.

Harry jerked and halted his washing as he turned to face Louis in annoyance, “What, do you not like it or summat?” 

“No, I love it, actually. Quiff really suits you. Kind of like mine, isn’t it?” he asked innocently, pointing up to his own messy hair.

Harry visibly exhaled at the acceptance, and gave Louis a signature dimple. “Good, because I thought you would,” he said, grinning wider when it caught Louis way off guard.

Louis continued to stand frozen in time with his mouth hanging open like an idiot. Harry had gotten a haircut because of him? Louis was seriously not drunk enough for the direction this conversation was rolling into. He reached to grab a half-empty beer bottle, but paused before it met his lips. Last time he had gotten drunk, he’d ended up sleeping with Harry, and the time before that, he’d tried to kiss him. 

Setting the bottle down in fear, he decided on a glass of trusty water instead. He needed to be sober, otherwise he would apparently be kissing Harry in the middle of the kitchen. He gulped the water down as he shamelessly stared at Harry; his tall, lanky frame hunched over rinsing off dishes, almost calling Louis to run his hands on it. 

Harry easily sensed Louis’ stare, and he shifted his weight onto one leg, jutting his butt out a little, immensely delighted when it caused Louis to snort in his glass.

I can play games too, Louis thought deviously, twisting the dish towel in his hand and slapping it directly against Harry’s distracting butt.

“Ow!” Harry exclaimed as he flinched, turning to face Louis with mock anger on his features. “Really, Lou? You do realise I’m standing in front of a sink full of water.” 

“Right…” Louis relented, throwing his hands up in surrender, “Well, I clearly didn’t think this through.”

“Too late,” Harry sung, splashing a handful of water directly at Louis’ face. 

The Yorkshire lad tried valiantly to dodge the attack, but he was much too late. Half of his face caught and the collar of his shirt were now soaked. He didn’t make a move and just stared at Harry with his dripping face. 

Harry stopped cackling when he realised Louis wasn’t, and walked over him cautiously. “Um… sorry ‘bout that,” he began, taking the dish towel from Louis’ hands. He was about to wipe the water off Louis’ face when the boy suddenly grabbed him by the waist and pulled him closer, standing on his tippy toes and wiping his face all over Harry’s. 

Harry squealed in delight and fond agitation. “Lou, stop!” he begged, trying to move his face away, albeit unsuccessfully.

“Make me!” Louis challenged, making his grip impossibly righter. Harry smirked at that potentially dangerous and misleading comment, and he placed his arms around Louis’ shoulders, constricting his hold so they were basically suffocating each other.   
Louis’ breathing was compromised at the suggestive position and he immediately loosened his hold, suddenly fascinated by the inked birds peeking out of Harry’s maroon cotton shirt, iconically barely buttoned as always. 

Harry tilted his face down even closer to Louis, but neither of them dared to move. “Lou…,” he whispered. 

Louis shuddered when the breath of his name danced across his forehead and he looked up painfully slowly to lock eyes with Harry’s marvellously green ones. In that moment, the world only consisted of the two of them, and Louis’ lips slightly parted as he silently worshipped the lines of his favourite face. Their faces were barely an inch apart, and conceivably all Louis had to do was lean forward slightly and their lips would meet. He could do it. He could close the gap. If he just...

“Harry, do you think I could get...” Abigail piped sleepily as she walked into the kitchen rubbing her tired eyes, freezing when she caught sight of the two of them in each other’s arms. “Oh…sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” Louis said raspily, cutting her off as he disentangled himself from Harry’s embrace and slipped past Abigail, all in a matter of seconds.

“Louis…,” Harry called after him.

“I’m so sorry Haz, I don’t know what I was thinking. I shouldn’t have known… I didn’t mean-”

“It’s ok, Abi,” Harry assured as he slipped past her too, following the trail of smoke Louis had left behind from his speedy getaway up the stairs.

“Lou…,” Harry almost whined, peeking into every room for the boy of his dreams. He tried opening the bathroom door as a last resort, but it was locked, so he knew he’d found him. “Louis, let me in please?”   
His desperate request was met with a deafening silence, so he knocked again, and then knocked some more, anxiously waiting for any peep of noise to come through the door. “Louis, I will wait out here all night if I have to.” 

Again, Louis said absolutely nothing, but thankfully Harry felt the lock of the knob turn, and he instantly opened it before Louis could change his mind. He stepped into the luxurious bathroom and relocked the door, holding his breath when he turned and saw a particularly pathetic sight. 

Louis was sitting in the bathtub with his legs pulled into his chest, hopelessly staring at his knees, and gripping his forearms that encircled them. 

Harry tentatively walked over and climbed into the bathtub too, mirroring Louis’ pose and facing him from the opposite end. They sat there motionless for several minutes, Louis staring at his knees and Harry staring at him do it.

“Why did you bring her?” Louis demanded when his patience broke.

“Louis…,” Harry sighed, already exasperated from the verbal attack.

“Just tell me, Harry. Tonight was meant to be just us guys.”

“I told you, we’re moving into Zayn’s flat in a few days and she just wanted to bring some boxes by.”

“Yeah, but then she could have went home,” Louis snapped.

“That’s kind of rude, Louis. Zayn said it would be okay. I don’t get why you care so much anyway.” Harry shot back, placing his forearms on the edges of the bathtub.

“I don’t,” Louis grumbled flatly.  
“Yeah, that’s why you’re sitting in a bathtub,” Harry chuckled, relaxing his face when Louis glared at him in response. “Maybe I would believe that if you hadn’t been pointedly avoiding me all night,” he corrected as reached out to touch Louis’ leg.

“I don’t understand why it bothers me so much,” Louis murmured, voice barely audible.

“I may have a theory,” Harry lightly suggested.

“No, Harry. I am not gay. I’ve already told you this…” Louis replied instantly.

Harry held up his hands in surrender, deciding now was not the time to push that. “Okay, Boobear... but answer me this... how badly do you want to kiss me right now?” Harry bravely asked.

“It’s taking everything in me not to jump you right now,” Louis admitted instantaneously. “Don’t smile at me like that,” Louis groaned when he saw Harry’s victorious expression. “I can’t resist those dimples.”

“Okay, Lou. I won’t smile anymore, I promise. What do you say forgetting about these bathtub woes and heading back downstairs to join our friends?” Harry suggested as he climbed out the tub and stood before Louis with two outstretched hands.

Louis smiled slightly at Harry’s easygoing excusal. “Sounds good,” he agreed, placing his hands in Harry’s and getting heaved out. 

They trudged out of the bathroom and meandered down the stairs together, Harry being extremely cautious to keep their arms separated so they didn’t accidentally brush together. They rounded the corner to step fully into the lounge and shook their heads in amusement at what they saw. Zayn was fast asleep on the single couch, and Liam was sitting on the floor in front of him, head rested on Zayn’s knee and snoring lightly.  
“Haz…,” Louis whispered softly, taking hold of his hand instinctively. 

Harry’s pulse quickened and he looked down at their joined hands, smiling before turning to meet Louis’ gaze. 

There on one of the couches was Niall, fast asleep against the armrest and kind of cuddling Abi who was draped over him.

“Oh, that? It’s okay, Lou,” Harry chuckled, giving Louis’ hand a gentle squeeze. “She has to hold something when she sleeps,” he said in amusement, trying to talk his way out of this with finesse. “Normally it’s this huge teddy bear I got for…” he cut off when Louis let go of his hand, quickly changing the subject. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m not tired at all… so what do you say we head outside for a bit?”

“Sure,” Louis said in relief, “I just need a jacket. I get really grumpy when I’m cold.”

“I’ll keep you warm,” Harry promised suggestively, waggling his eyebrows and giving him a lopsided grin.

“Harry, don’t tease me like that,” Louis sassed flirtatiously as he walked over to a small cupboard in the corner of the living room to grab a blanket. He held it up when he finally got it out, and grinned like the sun. “Should keep us both warm.” 

The boys headed out of the heavy sliding doors together, and Harry’s face lit up at the sight of a hammock. Louis only grinned in response, and they walked over to it in silence. Louis was patiently waiting for Harry to sit down, and then he collapsed next to him, whipping the blanket he’d gotten out to cover both of them. Harry restrained his giggle and kicked his legs back to push off the ground so the hammock would swing.  
“Come closer, Louis. I’m cold,” Harry whined, giving Louis his signature adorable and highly effective pout. Louis shook his head in bemusement, but scooted closer all the same, diminishing virtually all the empty space between them. Harry sighed in content and lifted his arm to drop it around Louis’ shoulders, pulling him in dangerously closer.

“Harry!” Louis chastised, backhanding him lightly on the chest. “You’re not cold. Your giant body is basically on fire.”

Harry chuckled guiltily and smirked at Louis out of the corner of his eye. “I know,” he said cheekily. “I just needed an excuse to have you this close to me.”

Louis surrendered and snuggled up into his chest, closing his eyes and taking a deep, relaxing breath. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he mused quietly.

“Doing what exactly?” Harry challenged innocently. “We’re just sitting here.”

Louis sat back up a little ways just so he could meet Harry’s eyes and stare into them disapprovingly. “You have a girlfriend,” he said flatly.

“Abi is fast asleep, Lou. Besides, we really aren’t doing anything… unless you want to, of course,” said Harry, suspiciously leaning closer.

“Haz… we’re in dangerous territory here,” Louis warned, leaning away in parallel to Harry’s advancement to keep the distance between them the same. However, Harry only continued to lean closer, and soon enough Louis would find himself on his back.

“Stop fighting this, Lou,” Harry pleaded in a husky and longing tone. He’d suddenly had enough, so he grabbed Louis by the back of the neck and reeled him in before he could fight back. In contrast to the rough manhandling that had just occurred, the press of Harry’s lips against Louis’ was soft and delicate, and the Yorkshire lad’s resolve was melting like the ice caps.

“Harry…,” Louis breathed against his lips. He only took a fleeting moment of internal dialogue before deciding that he couldn’t resist any longer, and he kissed him right back. The kiss was filled with all the things they should have said to each other, every important thing they didn’t ever get to say, and all the clear, passionate desire they had for one another. 

It had been a classically unforgettable few minutes before Louis finally pulled back, both of them breathless. “We shouldn’t,” he said unsurely.

“Why not?” Harry argued, diving back in to steal his lips again.

“Harry, stop,” Louis commanded, placing his hand on Harry’s chest and keeping him away. “You have a girlfriend. This is wrong.” 

Harry’s face fell and he leaned back, deeply sighing as he raked his fingers through his short hair. “Feels the opposite of wrong to me, but okay,” he said sadly. He kept his eyes glued to a random tree for several moments before turning back to Louis and opening his arms in an obvious request. “We can still cuddle though, right? I mean, you’re cold, I’m cold... We can just talk, stare up at the stars,” he suggested, smiling when he knew he’d won.

Because of course, Louis scooted over and leaned into Harry’s warm chest again.

“At least you didn’t say you weren’t gay,” Harry noted triumphantly, placing a kiss to Louis’ hair. 

Louis sharply smacked his thigh in response, but continued to say nothing. He stared up at the sky, and let his mind travel anywhere it wanted to go. “Do you like stars Harry?” he asked.

“Of course, who doesn’t?” 

“See that one over there? That’s my favourite,” Louis mentioned, pointing up to a particular area of the vast night sky. 

Harry followed the trail of his finger, and was relieved he knew which one Louis was referring to. “Ah, the Southern Cross… May I ask why that is your favourite?” he inquired, gently rubbing Louis’ back.

“Reminds me of home,” Louis informed sleepily, biting back a yawn. “I was about six years old, me Mum and I were sitting on the back porch one night, stargazing like we always did, and she pointed up to that one and told me that you could see that cross from anywhere in the world. Obviously I was gobsmacked, because I’d always figured that the stars I could see here, were definitely not visible to anyone else in the world.” 

“Hey, I was six,” Louis said defensively when Harry’s laugh bubbled out of his mouth. “Anyway, she told me that wherever I went in the world, if I ever started to feel homesick, all I would have to do is look up into the sky at night, find that cross, and know that she was doing the same.”

“That’s a really cute story, Lou,” Harry noted, looking at Louis who had the very stars in his own eyes.

“She knew even back then how much of a homebody I would turn out to be,” Louis added, fully yawning this time.

“So am I.”

“Then you can think of my story if you ever feel homesick in London,” Louis murmured from his deliriously half-awake status. 

Harry tightened his arms around Louis’ smaller frame and never ceased the gentle caresses on the boy’s back. “I’ll do just that, then,” he promised, waiting until the blue-eyed beauty was inarguably asleep before tilting his head to softly whisper into Louis’ fluffy hair. “Because you already feel like home to me.”


End file.
